/ 


♦  0<^^>9©<^^«©< 


^  PRINCETON.   N.   J. 

«>  Part  of  the  ^ 

i       ADDISON  ALEXANDER  LIBRARY.       It 

which  was  presented  by 
Messrs.  R.  L.  and  A.  Stuabt. 


BV  4390  ".F413  1844 
Demonstration  of  the 


-i^^. 


♦ 


.y 


DEMONSTRATION 

OF   THK 

NECESSITY  OF  ABOLISHING 

A   CONSTRAINED 

CLERICAL  CELIBACY; 

EXHIBITING 

THE  EVILS  OF  THAT  INSTITUTION, 


THE    REMEDY. 

/ 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  DIOGO  ANTONIO  PEIJO^ 

SENATOR  AND   EX-REGENT   OF   THE   EMPIRE   OF   BRAZIL, 
BISHOP   ELECT    OF   MARIANNA,   ETC.,   ETC. 

TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    PORTUGUESE, 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  AND  APPENDIX, 

By   Rev.  D.    P.   KIDDER,  A.M. 

Debet  unusquisque,  non  pro  eo,  quod  semel  ebiberat  et  tpnphnt 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
SORIN   AND    BALL. 

1844. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844, 

By  SORIN  &  BALL, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 

for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


T.  K.  &  P.  G.  COLLINS,  PRINTERS,  PHILA. 


INTRdDtJCTION. 


A  HISTORY  of  Roman  Catholicism  in  Brazil, 
would  embrace  many  topics  of  peculiar  interest. 
That  form  of  Christianity  was  introduced  contem- 
poraneously with  the  first  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try. Its  propagation  was  one  of  the  leading  objects 
avowed  by  Portugal  in  her  efforts  to  conquer  and 
colonize  that  extensive  portion  of  the  world. 

The  devotion  of  the  Portuguese  colonists  to  the 
interests  of  the  faith  in  which  they  had  been  nur- 
tured, probably  more  than  patriotism  or  any  other 
principle,  inspired  their  persevering  and  eventu- 
ally successful  resistance  to  the  Huguenot  French 
and  the  heretical  Dutch,  who  repeatedly  invaded 
the  country. 

Within  the  territories  of  Brazil,  the  Jesuits  com- 
menced the  most  splendid,  and  perhaps  the  most 
commendable  missionary  enterprise  known  in  their 
history.  Here,  too,  they  first  encountered  that  pow- 
erful and  determined  opposition  which  finally  se- 
cured the  downfall  of  their  order. 

Save  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  there  is 
scarcely  any  institution  of  the   Romish  Church 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

which  has  not  there  been  established — established 
too,  it  is  boasted,  with  nearly  all  the  purity  exhibit- 
ed in  Italy,  and  even  in  Rome  herself.  These  insti- 
tutions, moreover,  have  long  been  in  practical  opera- 
tion, free  from  the  remotest  opposing  influence,  and 
have  doubtless  produced  their  legitimate  effects. 

In  the  revolution  which  separated  the  colony 
from  the  mother  country,  and  established  Brazil  as 
an  independent  empire,  Roman  Catholicism  was 
retained  as  the  religion  of  the  state.  Nevertheless, 
Brazilians  did  not  surrender  the  right  to  think  and 
act  for  themselves.  Whenever,  in  their  view,  the 
general  good  has  required  it,  which  has  been  very 
often,  they  have  closed  the  door  to  convents,  and 
appropriated  monastic  edifices  to  the  public  uses 
of  the  country. 

The  Pope,  on  a  certain  occasion,  refused  to 
consecrate  one  of  their  bishops.  A  proposal  was 
promptly  made  to  separate  themselves  from  the 
See  of  Rome,  and  establish  the  Brazilian  church 
on  an  independent  footing.  After  refusing  for  sev- 
eral years  to  submit  to  any  unjust  or  arbitrary  claims 
of  his  holiness,  the  question  was  only  settled  by 
the  resignation  of  the  bishop  referred  to. 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  present  form 
of  government,  a  bold  and  philanthropic  effort  was 
made  in  the  General  Assembly  or  Parliament  of  the 
Empire,  to  abolish  clerical  celibacy,  that  distin- 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

guishing  feature  of  Roman  Church  discipline,  and 
thus  close  up  a  prolific  source  of  moral  corruption. 
The  time,  however,  had  not  come  for  the  success 
of  the  measure,  although  it  was  supported  by  many 
of  the  first  men  of  the  nation,  and  was  loudly  called 
for  by  facts  notorious  to  all.  To  embody  the  chief 
particulars  relating  to  this  attempt  at  ecclesiastical 
reform,  is  the  design  of  the  present  publication. 

One  of  the  principal  defenders  of  the  project  was 
Feijo,  the  author  of  the  accompanying  demonstra- 
tion ;  himself  a  priest,  then  a  member  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies,  subsequently  Regent  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  afterward  a  Senator  for  life.  This  trea- 
tise produced  a  powerful  impression  on  the  public 
mind,  and  together  with  other  discussions  of  the 
subject,  convinced  a  large  proportion  of  the  more 
intelligent  Brazilians,  both  clergy  and  laity,  of  the 
correctness  of  the  views  here  advocated. 

Such  a  circumstance  is  suflicient  of  itself  to 
invest  this  work  with  a  peculiar  interest.  But  it 
possesses  intrinsic  merits  which  render  it  valuable, 
independent  of  the  particular  occasion  which  called 
it  forth. 

For  such  a  work  to  have  been  lost  to  the  world 

and  to  future  generations,  would  have  been  a  great 

calamity.     Yet  such  had  well  nigh  been  its  fate. 

This  translation  is  made  from  the  only  copy  we 

recollect  to  have  seen  during  a  residence  of  from 
1* 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

two  to  three  years  in  Brazil,  and  is  believed  to  be 
the  first  published  in  any  language.  Only  a  lim- 
ited edition  of  the  original  Avork  was  ever  issued. 
This  being  in  part  suppressed  by  its  enemies,  in 
part  devoured  by  its  friends,  and  between  both 
kept  hidden  from  the  world  for  sixteen  years,  it 
can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  less  than  a  peculiar 
providence  by  which  the  book  should  now  make 
its  appearance  in  a  form,  and  spread  its  pages  so 
v^^idely,  that  it  can  never  again  be  concealed. 

We  are  neither  insejasible  of  the  great  privilege 
we  enjoy  of  paying  a  just  tribute  of  respect  to  the 
talents  of  the  first  Regent  of  Brazil,  nor  of  the  high 
gratification  which  Brazilians  must  experience  in 
view  of  the  admiration  which  this  production  of 
their  distinguished  fellow-countryman  is  destined 
to  challenge  from  the  learned  of  North  America 
and  of  Europe.  But  it  is  with  still  greater  pleas- 
ure that  we  contemplate  the  services  which  the 
labors  of  that  worthy  man  may  yet  render  to  the 
cause  of  truth.  His  ^^Demonstration  of  the  neces- 
sity of  abolishing  a  constrained  clerical  celibacy,^* 
will  be  sought  for  by  various  classes  of  men,  and 
■will  probably  be  found  capable  of  administering  to 
each  a  word  in  season. 

The  Roman  Catholic  will  here  find  a  frank  and 
fearless  discussion  of  an  important  branch  of  his 
church  polity  substantiated  at  every  step  by  vene- 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

rated  names  and  acknowledged  authorities.  The 
argument  itself  is  accompanied  by  all  the  authority 
due  to  a  bishop  nominated  to  the  extensive  diocese 
of  Marianna. 

The  Protestant  will  here  discover  an  independ- 
ence of  thought,  and  a  liberality  of  views,  that  he 
was  perhaps  little  prepared  to  expect  from  a  Roman 
Catholic  bishop.  The  theologian  is  here  furnished 
wdth  a  sound  argument,  an  extensive  series  of 
references  to  ancient  authors  in  point,  and  also  to 
facts,  the  validity  of  which,  in  this  controversy,  can 
no  longer  be  questioned ;  and  at  the  same  time,  with 
a  complete  historical  compendium  of  the  subject  in 
discussion.  The  curious  reader,  moreover,  will  not 
fail  to  be  interested  in  the  style  of  argumentation,  in 
the  opinions  advanced  upon  a  variety  of  questions 
in  ecclesiastical  history,  and  especially  in  some  facts 
respecting  the  widely  extended  Empire  of  Brazil, 
that  are  incidentally  interwoven  and  illustrated. 

Especially  at  this  crisis,  when  active  inquiry  is 
aroused  upon  this  and  other  kindred  topics ;  when 
some  are  endeavoring  to  clothe  the  assumptions  of 
the  present  day  in  the  ghostly  traditions  of  the  past, 
and  others  are  eager  to  rend  the  antiquated  vail, 
and  reduce  every  assumption  to  its  proper  merits  ; 
it  will  be  fitting  for  all  to  peruse  the  testimony  of 
one  perfectly  at  home  among  the  Fathers,  and  at 
the  same  time  qualified  to  speak  from  experience 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

upon  the  question  he  discusses.  While  some  are 
gravely  contemplating  the  propriety  of  a  return  to 
clerical  celibacy,  and  its  counterpart,  auricular 
confession ;  it  may  be  well  for  them  and  others  to 
pursue  a  candid  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  appli- 
cations of  the  former  institution  in  past  ages. 

Indeed  it  can  not  be  amiss  for  any  to  listen  to 
the  voice  of  lamentation  spontaneously  raised  on 
account  of  the  wide-spread  and  almost  irrepressible 
evils  arising  from  the  immoralities  of  men  at  whose 
hands  we  are  told  we  must  receive  absolution,  or 
be  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  nor  to 
be  admonished  by  the  fate  of  those  who  have  been 
reduced  to  the  extremity  of  sueing  for  the  restora- 
tion of  those  natural  rights,  of  which  a  spiritual  des- 
potism has  deprived  them,  and  of  pleading  for  the 
intervention  of  the  civil  authority  as  the  only  hope 
of  securing  ecclesiastical  reform. 

The  translator  has  simply  to  add,  that  he  has 
endeavored  to  present  to  the  English  reader  a 
faithful  version  of  Bishop  Feijo's  work  j  preferring, 
in  several  instances,  to  preserve  a  formal  and  anti- 
quated phrase,  rather  than  take  any  liberties  with 
the  literal  signification. 

New  York,  June,  1844. 


DEDICATION 


TO   THE   HONORABLE, 
THE  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  NATION. 

Gentlemen  : — 

To  whom  rather  than  to  you,  friends  of  my  coun- 
try, protectors  of  public  liberty,  and  zealous  defend- 
ers of  the  rights  of  Brazilian  citizens,  ought  I  to 
dedicate  this  brief  essay;  the  offspring  of  my  re- 
spect to  justice,  of  my  veneration  to  religion,  and 
of  my  love  to  humanity  ? 

Charged  with  defending  us  from  oppression,  it 
belongs  to  you  to  set  us  free  from  the  chains  which 
unenlightened  ages  have  fastened  upon  us.  Eleva- 
ted above  prejudices  that  have  grown  hoary  under 
the  shade  of  a  religion  whose  basis  is  sweetness 
and  charity,  you  have  the  courage  necessary  to 
rebuke  those  rare,  but  conceited  and  miserably 
contemptible  geniuses,  who  rejoice  and  delight  in 
hearing  the  groans  of  imprudent  or  seduced  vic- 
tims, who,  pursuing  the  phantom  of  an  ephemeral 
perfection,  have  plunged  themselves  into  the  abyss 
of  crime  and  of  disgrace. 

Armed  with  the  authority  delegated  to  you  by 
the  Constitution,  you  have  the  power  necessary  to 
combat  those  turbulent  spirits,  the  enemies  of  all 


10  DEDICATION. 

reform,  wlio,  incapable  of  proposing  a  single  meas- 
ure for  improvement,  are  nevertheless  eternally 
censuring  others,  who  neither  stand  in  need  of 
their  impotent  counsels,  nor  in  fear  of  the  devout 
sarcasms  of  their  pretended  piety. 

August  and  most  worthy  Representatives  of  the 
Nation  ;  prudence  is  the  only  lamp  which  should 
guide  the  steps  of  the  Legislator.  That  conde- 
scension, however,  which  has  not  for  its  basis  this 
offspring  of  enlightened  experience,  is  a  weak- 
ness— is  a  crime. 

All  Brazil  knows  the  necessity  of  abolishing  a 
law  that  never  was,  is  not,  and  never  will  be  ob- 
served. All  Brazil  is  witness  of  the  evils  which 
the  immorality  of  the  transgressors  of  that  law  en- 
tails upon  society.  Without  probity,  there  is  no 
execution  of  law ;  without  the  execution  of  law, 
there  is  no  justice  ;  without  justice,  there  is  no 
civil  liberty ;  and  without  civil  liberty,  there  is  an 
end  to  public  happiness. 

Legislators  ;  deign  to  accept  the  efforts  of  one 
of  your  number  ;  reflect  upon  the  important  truths 
which  he  offers  to  your  contemplation,  and  be  un- 
willing to  bear  the  mighty  responsibility  which 
will  rest  upon  you  if  you  retard  the  revocation  of 
a  law  which  is  the  source  of  public  immorality. 
DIOGO  ANTONIO  FEIJO\ 

Rio  DE  Janeiro,  July  9,  1828. 


PREFACE. 


A  DISCUSSION  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
called  forth  from  one  of  its  members,  well  known 
for  his  learning  and  his  probity,  the  assertion, 
"  That  the  clergy  of  Brazil  was  dishonored  by  the 
law  constraining  their  celibacy P 

Afterward,  when  reflecting  upon  the  means  of 
reforming  the  clergy,  and  examining  the  annals 
of  Christendom,  I  myself  became  also  convinced 
that  the  most  fruitful  source  of  the  various  evils 
which  are  entailed  upon  this  important  class  of 
citizens,  was  a  forced  celibacy.  I  consulted  Cath- 
olic authors,  and  authors  not  Catholic,  philosophers 
and  canonists,  and  the  solidity  of  the  reasons  of 
those  who  censured  the  law,  equally  with  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  arguments  adduced  to  sustain  it, 
confirmed  me  in  my  opinion. 

I  therefore  judged  it  my  duty  as  a  man,  as  a 
Christian,  and  as  a  Deputy,  to  offer  to  the  House 
my  report  on  this  subject,  in  which  I  undertook 
to  substantiate  as  fully  as  the  necessary  brevity 
of  such  a  report  would  permit,  this  proposition  : 
"  That  celibacy^  not  being  'prescribed  to  priests  by 
the  divine  law,  nor  even  by  apostolic  institution,  and 
being  moreover  cause  of  the  imjnorality  of  the  same^ 


12  PREFACE. 

it  belonged  to  the  General  Assembly  to  revoke  the 
law  requiring  it.  That  this  resolution  should  be 
communicated  to  the  Pope,  in  order  that  he  might 
place  the  laws  of  the  church  in  harmony  with  those 
of  the  empire,  by  revoking  such  as  impose  penalties 
on  the  priest  who  marries ;  and  in  case  he  should  not 
do  so  within  a  specif  ed  time,  that  the  bencplacito* 
should  be  suspended  to  those  laws  which,  fomenting 
discord  between  members  of  a  family,  might  disturb 
the  public  tranquillity  P 

I  foresaw  the  necessary  shock  which  these 
propositions  would  give  to  the  minds  of  those  who, 
fallen  asleep  in  the  opinions  inherited  from  their 
ancestors,  refuse  farther  investigation.  Moreover, 
all  know  the  blind  obstinacy  of  those  who,  at  a 
certain  age,  can  not  consent  to  be  admonished  of 
their  errors  ;  but,  withal,  the  defenders  of  celibacy 
appeared  in  much  fewer  numbers  than  I  expected. 

The  pious  detraction  of  which  they  made  use  m. 
the  absence  of  reason ;  the  confusion  and  the  dis-^ 
order  of  their  long  harangues  ;  the  uncharitable 
manner  which  they  employed  in  ostentation  of 
their  zeal  to  defend  religion,  which  they  thought 
was  attacked ;  whereas  it  was  vindicated  from  the 
false  accusations  of  the  incredulous,  a  proper  dis- 

*  The  Constitution  of  Brazil,  Art,  102,  Sec.  14,  guaranties 
to  the  government  the  right  of  conceding  or  denying  its  bcne- 
placito  (sanction)  to  the  decrees  of  councils,  the  bulls  of  the 
Pope,  and  all  other  ecclesiastical  constitutions. — Trans, 


PREFACE.  13 

tinction  being  made  between  it  and  what  is  only 
accidental  to  it;  their  defence  of  the  honor  of  the 
ecclesiastical  state,  which  they  pretended  was  im- 
pugned by  those  who,  on  the  contrary,  endeavored 
to  raise  it  from  the  disesteem  into  which  it  has 
fallen ;  all  co-operated  toward  the  triumph  of  truth. 
A  few  still  remain,  who,  either  through  ignorance, 
mistake,  or  prejudice,  strive  with  their  own  con- 
science. The  innate  sentiments  of  justice  are,  and 
eternally  will  be,  in  contradiction  to  their  opinions. 
Let  not  such  suppose  this  to  be  a  rebellion  of  the 
flesh  against  the  spirit :  it  is  the  voice  of  nature, 
which  speaks  against  the  prejudices  of  education : 
it  is  the  cry  of  conscience  against  perverted  rea- 
son :  it  is  the  contest  of  truth  against  error. 

A  wish  to  repay  the  interest  which  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  took  in  the  simple  reading  of  that  re- 
port, and  the  kind  reception  which  an  impartial 
public  has  given  it,  together  with  my  own  convic- 
tion of  the  necessity  of  abolishing  clerical  celibacy, 
has  induced  me  to  give  a  more  full  exposition  of 
the  sentiments  therein  expressed.  I  shall,  how- 
ever, follow  the  same  method  as  before,  it  being 
in  my  view  the  most  appropriate  and  convincing ; 
since,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  this  subject  is  not 
within  the  cognizance  of  civil  jurisdiction,  the 
project  is  defeated  at  once,  and  vice  versa.  In 
the  former  case,  nothing  remains  for  us  but  to 
2 


14  PREFACE. 

suffer  the  oppression  of  the  law  in  silence,  until 
Jesus  Christ  shall  become  mindful  of  his  Church ; 
because  her  visible  head  does  not  draw  back  from 
a  step  once  taken,  and  the  See  of  Rome,  although 
it  does  not  hesitate  a  moment  in  granting  dispen- 
sations to  ecclesiastical  law,  yet  it  never  suffers 
those  laws  to  be  revoked.  The  latter  is  not  for 
its  interest. 

I  shall  not  hesitate  to  repeat  the  same  arguments, 
and  to  cite  the  same  authorities  as  before.  The 
former  are  solid :  the  latter  convincing.  I  shall, 
however,  add  new  proofs.  I  do  not  wish  to  arro- 
gate to  myself  the  honor  of  originality.  So  much 
has  been  written  on  this  subject,  and  with  so  much 
depth,  that  it  will  be  sufficient  for  me  to  exercise 
judgment  in  choice,  and  clearness  in  arrangement. 
What,  however, J  shall  surrender  to  no  one,  is  the 
honor  of  desiring  most  sincerely  the  happiness  of 
my  country,  the  re-establishment  of  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  the  clergy,  and  the  salvation  of  the  many 
SOULS  who  are  inevitably  lost  through  the  ex- 
istence of  a  law  from  which  there  is,  as  I  shall 
prove,  not  one  good  result. 

I  find  myself  obliged  to  come  down  to  the  level 
of  those  who  profess  this  false  principle,  "  That 
philosophers  are  libertines,  and  heretics  never  speak 
the  truths  I  shall  confine  myself,  therefore,  to 
the  citation  of  known  authors,  and  those  approved 


PREFACE.  15 

by  my  opponents,  or  at  least  respected  by  the  or- 
thodox. I  shall  establish  myself  on  facts  proved, 
and  on  examples  under  the  eyes  of  all. 

I  do  not  write  for  the  truly  learned,  nor  for  those 
well-intentioned  men,  who,  possessed  of  love  for 
their  neighbor,  anxiously  desire  his  happiness,  and 
condole  with  him  in  his  misfortunes.  These  two 
classes  belong  to  my  own  party.  I  write  for  the 
good  of  men  who  ordinarily  surrender  themselves 
up  to  be  led  blindly  by  those  in  whom  they  sup- 
pose exists  a  certain  right  to  direct  them.  I  will 
make  my  remarks  intelligible,  in  order  that  such 
may  not  be  deceived  by  specious  arguments,  whose 
futility  is  found  enveloped  in  the  sacred  mantle  of 
religion.  My  only  concern  is  to  be  understood. 
I  have  no  fear  of  being  confuted. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Introduction 3 

Dedication 9 

Preface . .   , 11 

PROPOSITION  I. 
The  right  to  establish  legal  impediments  to  matrimony, 
and  to  annul  and  revoke  the  same,  belongs  to  the 

temporal  or  state  authority 19 

Proof  1.  From  the  nature  of  matrimony 19 

"      2,  From  the  use  which  temporal  authority  has 

made  of  this  rights 29 

«     3.  From  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in  early 

ages 32 

Scholium.— From  the  4th  Canon  of  the  24th  Session 

of  the  Council  of  Trent 36 

General  Inferences 40 

PROPOSITION  II. 

The  impediment  of  clerical  orders  ought  to  he  abolished    42 

§  1.  That  impediment  is  unjust 42 

§  2.  It  gives  rise  to  immorality  in  the  Clergy 49 

§  3.  Immorality  in  the  Clergy  has  a  peculiar  tendency 

to  promote  public  immorality ...     60 

2* 


18  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

§  4.  The  law  requiring  Celibacy  is  useless 61 

§  5.  Its  abrogation  is  desired  by  prudent  men 62 

§  6.  Clerical  Celibacy  is  not  of  divine  institution... .     66 

§  7.  It  is  not  of  apostolic  institution 67 

§  8.  History  of  clerical  Celibacy 69 

a.  Reflections    respecting  Pafnucius,  and  the 

legitimacy  of  the  Council  of  Trullo 82 

h.  Continuation  of  the  History  of   Celibacy 

down  to  the  present  time 85 

§  9.  Compendious  view  of  the  institution  of  clerical 

Celibacy 93 

§  10.  The  Western  Church  was  never  opposed  to  the 

Eastern  in  this  respect 94 

§  11.  General  View  of  the  arguments 95 

§  12.  It  is  lawful   to   censure  the  discipline  of  the 

Church 96 

§  13.  The  discipline  of  the  Latin  Church  is  impolitic  100 

Conclusion 109 

Appendix 113 


CLERICAL  CELIBACY 


PROPOSITION  I. 

riie  rigid  to  establish  absolute  impediments  to  Mat- 
rimony, and  to  annul  and  revoke  the  same,  belongs 
to  the  temporal  or  State  Authority. 

The  nature  of  matrimony  itself,  the  example  of 
catholic  sovereigns,  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in 
the  most  enlightened  ages  of  Christianity,  and  the 
authority  of  respected  authors,  will  furnish  us  with 
arguments  whose  irresistible  force  will  produce 
the  necessary  conviction  of  the  truth  of  our  propo- 
sition . 

PROOF  I. 

FROM    THE    NATURE    OF    MATRIMONY. 

Matrimony,  in  the  opinion  of  all  governments 
and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  as  taught  in  her 
rituals  and  catechisms,  is,  in  its  origin,  a  lawful 
contract  between  one  man  and  one  woman,  which 
God  has  authorized  for  the  multiplication  of  the  hu- 
man race.  From  this  simple  and  natural  defini- 
tion, it  is  inferred,  1 .  That  matrimony  derives  its 
origin  from  the  Author  of  Nature,  who  in  Paradise 
directed  the  first  parents  of  the  human  race  to  be 


20  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

fruitful  and  multiply^  and  replenish  the  earth.  2, 
That  in  the  social  state,  whose  object  is  to  guar- 
anty the  rights  of  each,  and  to  make  those  of  the 
individual  subordinate  to  those  of  the  whole,  it  be- 
longs to  the  government  to  regulate  this  contract 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  ends  of  its  institution 
may  be  realized.  3.  That  since  this  contract  is 
of  such  importance,  that  on  it  depends  the  perpe- 
tuity of  our  species,  the  education  of  posterity,  the 
peace  of  families,  and  hence  the  tranquillity,  secu- 
rity, and  prosperity  of  the  state — the  government 
can  not  forego  the  right  of  regulating  it,  without 
losing  the  very  essence  of  its  existence,  which 
consists  in  uniting  the  several  functions  necessary 
to  maintain  the  well-being  of  society. 

Hence,  therefore,  the  prerogative  of  establishing 
impediments  to  matrimony,  must  be  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  indisputable  and  inalienable  rights 
of  the  government  of  a  nation. 

The  absurdities  which  follow  the  negation  of 
such  a  right  to  a  government,  are  evident ;  while 
it  is  still  worse  to  yield  it  to  a  foreign  authority, 
and  one  which  is  independent  of  civil  power. 

Society  would  oftentimes  be  found  in  contradic- 
tion with  itself,  and  thus  carried  to  the  very  verge 
of  anarchy.  If  this  evil  has  not  as  yet  been  car- 
ried to  its  highest  pitch,  the  fact  is  due  to  the  hu- 
miliation of  those  governments  which  suffer  their 
subjects  to  ask  exemption  from  law  at  the  hands 
of  a  foreign  power,  and  to  the  indulgence  with 
which  such  favors  are  ordinarily  granted. 

Matrimony,  then,  from  its  very  nature,  is  a  con- 
tract, having  for  its  foundation  natural  rights, 
which  are  subordinate  to  the  interests  of  society, 


NATURE    OF    MATRIMONY.  21 

and  therefore  under  the  jurisdiction  ol'  civil  au- 
thority. 

Some,  however,  urge  that  matrimony,  being 
among  Christians  a  sacrament,  is  as  such  exclu- 
sively subordinate  to  the  church,  and  affirm  that  no 
disposition  of  the  secular  authority  can  have  any 
effect  upon  its  A^alidity.  The  falsity  of  this  asser- 
tion will  be  manifest,  when  it  is  proved  that  in 
matrimony  the  contract  and  the  sacrament  are  two 
things,  distinct  in  quality  and  separate  in  their  na- 
ture ;  and  that,  although  the  contract  were  identi- 
cal with  the  sacrament,  yet,  from  this  circumstance, 
secular  authority  would  by  no  means  have  lost  ju- 
risdiction over  it. 

Otherwise,  it  would  be  necessary  to  admit  the 
absurdity  that  when  Christ  instituted  his  church 
and  spiritual  kingdom,*  he  nevertheless  made  de- 
pendant on  it  the  validity  of  a  temporal  contract ; 
whose  principal  object  is  the  mutual  advantage, 
the  propagation  of  our  species  and  education  of 
posterity  ;  and  thus  introduced  confusion  and  dis- 
order into  society  by  depriving  civil  government 
of  an  essential  right,  and  revolutionizing  the  very 
objects  of  that  society  which  God  has  established, 
and  which  he  orders  and  protects  as  well  as  the 

*  It  appears  superfluous  to  cite  authorities  in  proof  of  a 
truth  so  well  understood  at  the  present  time  as  that  Christ's 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ;  however,  to  avoid  the  censure 
of  some  of  our  over  righteous  ones,  I  will  refer  to  Fleury, 
Eccl.  Hist.,  Dis.  vii.  He  says,  "  It  is  evident  from  the  New 
Testament,  and  from  the  tradition  of  the  first  ten  centuries, 
that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  purely  spiritual ;  that  he  came 
on  earth  only  to  establish  the  true  worship  of  God,  accom- 
panied by  a  pure  morality,  without  interfering  with  the  po- 
litical government  of  diiferent  nations,  neither  in  their  laws 
nor  customs  which  only  have  respect  to  the  present  life." 


22  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

church  herself.  Revolutions  these,  which  more 
than  once  have  ruined  states,  and  brought  into  dis- 
credit the  authority  of  that  church  which  has  pro- 
moted them  by  her  criminal  invasions  upon  the 
dominion  of  temporal  power.* 

The  early  ages  of  the  church  exhibit  the  true 
rule  of  her  discipline.  Fortunately,  she  then  rec- 
ognised no  other  right  respecting  matrimonial  con- 
tracts than  that  of  watching  over  them,  like  other 
human  actions,  in  order  to  declare  them  iniquitous 
before  the  bar  of  conscience,  when  contrary  to  the 
Divine  law.  She  recognised  it  as  her  duty  to  su- 
perintend the  execution  of  the  laws  of  sovereigns 
respecting  marriages,  and  often  had  recourse  to 
those  sovereigns  in  order  to  declare  invalid  such 
marriages  as  she  deemed  opposed  to  the  morality 
of  the  gospel. t 

The  infidel  who,  after  marriage,  professed  Chris- 
tianity, was  never  obliged  to  renew  his  marriage 
before  the  church. 

Catechumens,  who,  during  a  series  of  years, 
were  preparing  themselves  for  baptism,  were  nev- 

*  Notorious  are  the  bloody  conflicts  which  have  occurred 
between  popes  and  kings  relating  to  subjects  within  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  latter.  Without  wandering  from  the  subject  be- 
fore me,  1  might  cite  numberless  examples  of  difficulty  on 
account  of  ecclesiastics  intermeddling  with  a  view  to  suspend 
the  validity  of  matrimony.  The  Emperor  Leo  was  attacked 
by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  on  account  of  his  mar- 
riage with  Zoe.  Every  one  is  acquainted  with  the  persecu- 
tion which  Adrian  II.  put  forth  against  Loterus,  king  of 
Lorena,  and  with  the  excesses  of  Gregory  V.  against  Robert 
the  Pious,  because  he  married  his  kinswoman  Berta. 

None  of  these  things  would  have  happened,  if  the  church 
had  been  content  to  keep  in  her  own  proper  sphere. 

t  112  Can.  Afric.  Cod.  Tom.  2,  Cone.  S.  Ambros  aTheodos. 
Greg.  2  a  Luistpr. 


NATURE    OF    MATRIMONY.  23 

er  prohibited  from  contracting  marriage  ;  because 
the  doctrine  was  then  current  that  matrimony  re- 
sulted from  the  mutual  agreement  of  the  parties, 
ratified  according  to  legal  forms.  The  same  was 
repeated  by  Nicolas  I.  to  the  clergy  of  Belgium  ; 
by  Eugene  IV.  in  the  council  of  Florence  ;  and 
was  subsequently  consecrated  in  the  catechism  of 
the  council  of  Trent,  which  teaches,  section  24, 
that  marriages  under  the  law  of  the  gospel  exceed 
those  of  former  dispensations,  in  the  grace  which 
perfects  natural  love,  confirms  the  indissoluble  unity 
of  husband  and  wife,  and  sanctifies  the  conjugal  re- 
lation. 

Such,  in  fact,  is  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
church  toward  Christians  themselves,  among  whom 
she  frequently  grants  marriages  merely  in  the  light 
of  contracts. 

Public  penitents,  separated  from  the  church, 
were  not  admitted  to  the  reception  of  sacraments 
during  the  first  degrees  of  their  penance  ;  neverthe- 
less young  men  were  permitted  to  marry,  or  at 
least  their  marriages  were  tolerated  by  indulgence, 
as  St.  Leo  himself  affirms.*  Such  marriages  could 
not  be  anything  more  than  contracts,  since  matri- 
mony is  a  sacrament  of  the  living,  as  theologians 
express  themselves,  and  can  not  be  administered 
to  penitents  before  their  reconciliation. 

Virgins  and  monks  who  married  notwithstand- 
ing their  vows,  while  those  vows  were  not  regard- 
ed as  a  legal  impediment,  were  held  to  be  truly 
married  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  such  marriages 
were  not  celebrated  before  the  church,  nor  by  her 

♦  Epist.  ad  Rustic  Narb. 


24  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

ministers,  who  would  have  detested  them ;   and 
therefore  were  merely  contracts.* 

Marriages  between  Christians  and  infidels,  al- 
though not  declared  null,  or  when  granted  by  dis- 
pensation, are  nothing  but  contracts  ;  since  all 
know  that  an  infidel  is  incapable  of  receiving  a 
sacrament,  and  therefore  in  this  case  it  is  admin- 
istered to  neither  of  the  contractors.! 

Among  heretics,  without  the  pale  of  the  church, 
who  neither  believe  in  the  sacrament  of  matrimony 
nor  have  ministers  possessed  of  any  right  to  ad- 
minister it,  how  can  marriages  be  considered  as 
sacraments  1  Nevertheless,  Benedict  XIV.  de- 
clared them  valid,  independent  of  being  ratified  in 
presence  of  a  curate,  even  when  converted. J 

Catholics  who  contract  matrimony  while  a  se- 
cret legal  impediment  exists — being  secretly  dis- 
pensed, notwithstanding  the  absence  of  the  curate 
— are  truly  married,  according  to  the  determina- 
tion of  the  same  Benedict  XIV.,  in  a  case  of  this 
instance,  substantiating  himself  on  the  declaration 
of  Pius  V.ll 

Christians  marrying  by  proxy  were  always  held 
as  truly  married,  notwithstanding  they  never  con- 
firmed their  nuptials  in  presence  of  a  curate.  No 
one,  however,  will  attempt  to  maintain  that,  being 
absent,  they  can  receive  the  sacrament  by  proxy, 
since  the  union  of  the  substance  and  the  form  ap- 
plied by  the  minister  to  the  subject,  ckn  not  be  re- 

*  St.  Augus.,  Tom.  6,  col.  375.  Vide  Pocicr  Traite  sur  la 
Matrimonie  et  Dupin  Bibliotheque,  sec.  5,  par.  1. 

t  Tertullian,  lib.  2,  ad  uxor.  St.  Augus.  de  Conjug.  adult., 
lib.  1,  cap.  25.    Sinod.  Elib.,  can.  15. 

t  Tom.  1.    BuL,  p.  87.     Brief  of  March  13,  1741. 

il  Sistem  Lubi  de  Teolog.,  Tr.  Matrim. 


NATURE    OF    MATRIMONY.  25 

alized  ;  but  it  is,  in  the  view  of  theologians,  a  cir- 
cumstance essential  to  the  validity  of  a  sacra- 
ment. To  save  myself  the  trouble  of  refuting  the 
frivolous  reasons  by  which  some  endeavor  to  main- 
tain the  existence  of  the  sacrament  in  such  mar- 
riages, I  will  avail  myself  of  the  authority  of  the 
great  Ca7io,  who  not  only  affirms  that  the  church 
never  taught  that  all  marriages  among  the  faithful 
are  sacraments,  but  also  pronounces  the  dulness 
and  folly  of  those  who  maintain  the  contrary  to  be 
undeserving  a  reply.* 

Second  marriages  are  deprived  of  the  nuptial 
blessing  in  which  all  antiquity,  and  the  Greek 
church  to  the  present  day  has  made  the  sacrament 
to  consist.  Third  and  fourth  nuptials  were  so 
much  condemned,  as  to  involve  those  who  cele- 
brated them  in  severe  penance.  At  the  same 
time  such  marriages  were  considered  valid,  not- 
withstanding the  aversion  which  the  church  held 
toward  them ;  and  they  are  among  us  at  present, 
notwithstanding  they  are  unaccompanied  with  the 
nuptial  blessing. t 

Clandestine  marriages  anterior  to  the  council 
of  Trent  were  held  to  be  valid,  although  not  cele- 
brated by  a  priest. I 

*  Cano,  lib.  S,  cap.  8.    Palavicin  in  Hist.,  lib.  23,  cap.  9. 

t  The  Apost.  Const.,  lib.  3,  cap.  2,  call  second  marriages  un- 
lawful •  third,  intemperance  ;  and  all  subsequent,  fornication. 

St.  Greg.  Nanz.,  31 ;  St.  Basil,  4,  &c.  The  council  of  Sal- 
amanca, in  1336,  persuaded  itself,  cap.  11,  that  the  blessing 
should  not  be  granted  even  in  second  marriages,  in  order  not 
to  repeat  the  sacrament. 

t  Cone.  Trid.,  sec.  24.  As  early  as  A.  D.  400,  a  Spanish 
council  in  Toledo  had  determined,  can.  19,  that  persons  who 
kept  a  single  concubine,  in  place  of  a  wife,  should  not  be  ex- 
conamunicated.  So  little  did  they  regard  the  sacrament  es- 
sential to  the  validity  of  the  contract,  when  the  laws  did  not 
make  it  null.  o 


26  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

The  celebrated  Carranza,  in  his  catechism,  ap- 
proved by  a  deputation  of  the  council  of  Trent, 
states  that  in  some  countries  it  was  customary  to 
marry  before  a  magistrate,  previous  to  going  to  the 
church  to  receive  the  sacrament.  This  practice 
was  doubtless  founded  on  the  doctrine  of  St.  Am- 
brose and  other  fathers,  as  well  as  upon  the  canon 
law.*  All  these  facts  in  the  history  of  the  church 
prove  conclusively  the  distinction  between  the 
contract  and  the  sacrament  in  matrimony,  and  also 
that  among  Catholics  themselves  there  have  been 
and  still  are  many  persons  married  merely  in  the 
light  of  a  contract,  without  the  slightest  impropri- 
ety or  shadow  of  sin. 

In  reply  to  these  arguments,  resort  has  been 
made  to  the  assertion  that  among  Christians  mar- 
riages are,  by  the  very  act,  exalted  from  contracts 
to  sacraments  ;  the  contractors  themselves  becom- 
ing ministers  in  the  case,  and  that  the  priest  is 
therefore  only  the  qualified  witness  required  by 
the  canons,  and  the  blessing  no  more  than  a  cere- 
mony of  the  church,  without  any  sacramental  ef- 
fect. The  absurdity  of  this  opinion  will  now  be 
shown. 

How  can  it  be  believed  that  in  sacraments  ne- 
cessary to  salvation,  e.  g.,  baptism  and  penance, 
the  subject,  although  a  priest,  can  not  even  in  the 
most  urgent  case  administer  them  to  himself,  and 
yet  matrimony,  a  sacrament  in  no  way  essential  to 
salvation,  can  be  celebrated  by  the   contractors 

*  St.  Ambr.  again,  Ep.  19,  a  Vig.,  says  that  marriage  ought 
to  be  sanctified  by  the  blessing  of  the  priest — "  Conjugium 
sacerdotali  benedictions  sanctijicari  opportet."  Nevertheless  he 
maintains,  Lib.  de  Inst.  Virg.,  cap.  6,  that  the  contract  con- 
stitutes matrimony — "  Facit  conjusium  pactio  conjugalisJ' 


NATURE    OF    MATRIMONY.  27 

themselves,  who  for  the  time  being  assume  the 
authority  of  ministers,  thus  excluding  this  sacra- 
ment from  the  administration  of  the  priesthood, 
whose  very  office  consists  in  imparting  to  the 
faithful  the  grace  of  the  Savior,  as  communicated 
by  means  of  the  sacraments  ?  The  very  idea  i-s 
refuted  by  the  practice  of  the  church.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  nature  of  the  sacraments,  as  well  as 
condemned  by  the  best  authors. 

Heretics  who  disbelieve  in  the  sacrament  of 
matrimony,  can  not  be  capable  of  administering  it. 
Nevertheless,  they  contract  matrimony  in  valid 
form,  and,  as  we  have  already  observed,  Benedict 
XIV.  does  not  permit  their  marriages  to  be  re- 
newed after  their  conversion. 

A  CathoHc  may  marry  a  heretic  or  an  infidel, 
being  properly  dispensed,  and  if  the  contractors 
are  to  become  ministers  of  the  sacrament,  why 
may  not  the  Catholic  in  this  case  administer  it 
alone  ?  The  heretic  and  the  infidel  would  neither 
believe  in  it,  nor  wish  to  perform  or  receive  such  a 
sacrament ;  and  though  the  heretic  did  desire  to 
do  either,  he  would  be  unable,  because  he  is  ex- 
communicated, and  thus  deprived  of  all  rights  as  a 
Christian. 

Moreover,  even  the  minister  himself,  without  an 
intention  to  administer  the  sacrament,  does  not  ad- 
minister it.*  But,  among  us,  neither  party  has  any 
such  intention,  because  they  are  unacquainted  with 
any  such  office  :  on  the  contrary,  both  expect  to 
receive  the  sacrament  of  matrimony  from  the  priest. 
How,  then,  is  it  administered  in  the  actual  marriage 
of  Catholics  ? 

*  Concil.  Trid.,  sec.  7,  can.  11. 


28  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

Let  us  suppose,  however,  that  the  civil  contract 
is  transformed  into  a  sacrament,  and  that  among 
Christians  the  former  is  inseparable  from  the  latter. 
Now,  since  the  contract  is  the  basis  on  which  the 
sacrament  rests,  or  rather,  since  the  lawful  contract 
is  the  only  thing  made  a  sacrament,  and  that  has  a 
priority  of  existence,  it  is  beyond  a  question  that 
the  civil  authority  still  retains  its  jurisdiction  over 
the  civil  contract,  and  that  contract  loses  none  of 
its  subordination  to  civil  power,  although  elevated 
into  a  sacrament.  Thus  the  citizen,  by  becoming 
a  Christian,  does  not  alter  his  relations  to  civil  au- 
thority, although  his  individual  character  and  per- 
sonal dignity  are  by  virtue  of  baptism  elevated  to 
a  higher  category,  and  he  has,  under  this  new  re- 
lation, also  come  under  the  cognizance  of  spiritual 
authority. 

Thus  the  matrimonial  contract  remains  in  every 
respect  subject  to  the  laws  of  society,  although  as 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  sacrament,  it  is  equally 
subject  to  the  laws  of  the  church.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows that  if  two  individuals  contract  matrimony 
according  to  civil  law,  and  not  according  to  eccle- 
siastical law,  still  they  will  be  validly  married, 
although  the  sacrament  be  not  received. 

Both  kinds  of  authority  are  independent.  Each 
one  may  legislate  upon  subjects  within  its  own  ju- 
risdiction. But  as  spiritual  authority  has  for  its 
immediate  object  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  not  the 
public  tranquillity,  like  the  civil  power,  it  can  not 
in  the  nature  of  things  determine  upon  matters  in- 
dependent of  that  especial  object.  Still  more,  it 
can  not  intermeddle  in  opposition  to  temporal  au- 
thority under  any  pretensions,  without  admitting 


TEMPORAL    AUTHORITY.  29 

the  absurd  and  anti-social  maxim  of  the  influence 
of  one  power  over  another,  with  a  reciprocal  inva- 
sion of  each  other's  attributes.  From  such  con- 
flicting claims  the  most  destructive  consequences 
have  always  ensued. 

It  has  now  been  demonstrated  that  matrimony 
is  by  its  very  nature  entirely  and  exclusively  sub- 
ject to  the  civil  authority,  whether  considered  as 
a  contract  distinct  from  the  sacrament,  or  whether 
in  union  with  the  sacrament  placed  in  a  new  cate- 
gory, which  grace  confers  upon  it  the  moment 
that  the  union  is  realized.  We  shall  proceed  to 
prove  our  proposition  by  the  use  which  Catholic 
sovereigns  have  made  of  this  right  of  establishing 
and  revoking  impediments  to  matrimony,  not  in 
opposition  to  the  church,  but  with  her  decided 
approbation. 


PROOF  II. 

FROM  THE  USE  WHICH  THE  TEMPORAL  AUTHORITY 
HAS  MADE  OF  THIS  RIGHT. 

The  Roman  emperors  were  converted.  The 
solid  virtues  of  the  pastors  of  the  church,  their 
learning,  their  charity,  and  the  miracles  which 
they  performed,  attracted  toward  them  a  high  ven- 
eration. 

Exemptions,  privileges,  and  largesses,  conferred 
upon  them  exaltation  and  grandeur.  Even  matters 
of  temporal  interest  were  carried  before  their  tri- 
bunal, as  the  most  just,  impartial,  and  full  of  equity. 
All  this  occurred,  but  the  emperors  neither  yielded 
to  the  church  the  right  of  regulating  matrimony, 
3* 


30  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

nor  did  she  claim  any  such  right.  Previous  laws 
were  in  all  respects  observed,  and  the  church 
merely  watched  over  them,  and  became  zealous 
for  their  execution. 

Justinian,  the  emperor  who  legislated  so  much 
upon  ecclesiastical  affairs,  in  no  one  of  his  laws 
makes  mention  of  the  sacred  ritual  when  treating 
of  matrimony.*  He  annulled  the  marriages  of  per- 
sons of  rank,  wdien  not  preceded  by  the  stipulation 
of  a  dowr)-'.  To  persons  of  a  less  elevated  station 
he  granted  the  alternative  of  either  stipulating  a 
dowry,  or  if  they  preferred,  of  going  to  a  church, 
and  there,  in  presence  of  the  Patron  Saint  and  of 
three  or  four  priests,  declaring  that  they  received 
each  other  mutually  as  husband  and  wife.  Per- 
sons in  the  lower  classes  of  society  he  permitted 
to  marry  without  even  this  formality.! 

A  century  before,  Theodosius  the  Powerful  de- 
clared marriages  valid  between  persons  of  equal 
condition,  when  confirmed  by  their  mutual  consent 
and  proved  by  the  testimony  of  their  friends. 

In  the  East,  it  was  Leo  the  Philosopher  who 
at  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century  made  the 
nuptial  blessing  essential  to  the  validity  of  matri- 
mony.J  He  dispensed  slaves  from  this,  but  Alexus 
Comenus  subjected  them  to  it.  In  the  West,  it 
was  Charles  the  Great  who  made  the  nuptial  bles- 
sing necessary  in  many  cases. ^  Tabarus  says, 
"  If  you  consult  the  Codex  Salicorn  of  the  Goths, 

*  Lib.  4,  Decret.,  lit.  19  and  S,  affirms  that  the  sacrament  of 
matrimony  (evidently  in  a  latent  sense),  exists  both  among 
the  faithful  and  the  unbelieving. — '^  Sacramentum  conjugii  apud 
Jideles,  et  infideles  existitJ' 

t  Lex.  23,  par  7,  Cod.  de  Nupt. 

t  Const.  Emp.  Leon,  89. 

$  Cap.  408,  lib.  6,  p.  179,  lib.  7. 


TEMPORAL    AUTHORITY.  31 

Visigoths,  &c.,  you  will  everywhere  find  that  the 
sovereign  determined  respecting  matrimony,  regu- 
lating its  forms  and  conditions,  granting  or  denying 
dispenses,  and  that  the  contract  always  appeared 
distinct  from  the  sacrament."* 

Daguesus  observes,  that  in  the  first  nine  centu- 
ries, the  church  conformed  herself  to  the  laws  of 
the  state,  and  never  assumed  to  honor  with  the 
sacrament  a  union  condemned  by  the  laws  of 
princes,  t 

Chatizel,  after  maintaining  the  same  opinion, 
adds,  that  up  to  the  fourteenth  century,  history 
offered  traces  of  the  custom  in  question. J 

In  France,  as  late  as  1635,  marriages  of  princes 
of  the  royal  blood,  without  the  consent  of  the  king, 
were  held  to  be  null,  and  Louis  XIII.  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  declare  invalid  the  marriage  of  his  brother 
Gastan.  When  theologians  were  consulted,  and 
the  affair  was  referred  to  a  national  council,  the 
marriage  was  by  all  pronounced  null.§ 

At  the  present  day,  marriages  among  minors  are 
invalid  both  in  France  and  Austria,  and  in  this 
empire,  proclamation  is  a  necessary  condition  to 
the  validity  of  the  marriage  contract.     Moreover, 

*  Tabaro  do  Contrato  e  do  Sacramento  do  Matrimonio. 

t  Tom.  3,  edit,  quart.,  p.  69. 

X  Theodosius,  iu  establishing  the  impediment  of  consan- 
guinity in  the  second  degree,  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of 
dispensing  it.  Heraclius  granted  himself  a  dispense  to  marry 
his  niece  Martina.  Theodoricus,  in  Italy,  dispensed  impedi- 
ments to  marriages  both  before  and  after  they  were  contracted. 
See  Flodoard,  Hist.  Eccl.,  for  the  case  of  Bodheim,  whose  mar- 
riage was  declared  null  by  an  assembly,  because  it  lacked  the 
consent  of  Charles  the  Bald.  The  case  of  John,  Prince  of  Bo- 
hemia, is  notorious,  whose  marriage  was  annidled  by  the  Em- 
peror Louis  IV.,  and  who  afterward  granted  Margaret  a  dis- 
pensation to  again  marry  her  kinsman. 

§  Memorias  do  C'lero  da  Franga. 


32  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

a  recent  law  has  come  into  effect,  by  which  simple 
adultery,  substantiated  before  a  court,  becomes  a 
ground  of  divorce.*  It  only  remains  to  consider 
the  doctrine  of  the  church  on  this  point. 


PROOF  III. 


FROM    THE    DOCTRINE  OF    THE  CHURCH  IN    EARLY 
AGES. 

Athenagoras  in  his  apology  addressed  to  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  and  Commodus,  asserts  that  "the 
Christians  only  recognized  as  wives  those  females 
who  had  been  espoused  according  to  their  laws."t 

Pope  Celestine  I.,  being  consulted  respecting 
the  second  marriage  of  one  who  abandoned  the 
first  because  it  had  not  been  celebrated  before  the 
church,  decided  in  favor  of  the  first,  in  order  that 
the  faith  of  an  oath  be  not  trampled  upon,  and  that 
a  reciprocal  promise  should  he  kept.\ 

St.  Basil  makes  the  validity  of  matrimony  in 
the  case  of  slaves  and  minors,  consist  in  the  con- 
sent of  their  masters  and  parents. § 

St.  Ambrose  recognised  the  essential  parts  of 
matrimony  as  consisting  in  the  contract,  and  also 
St.  Johir  Chrysostom.  The  latter,  although  he 
confessed  sovereigns  might  err  in  their  laws,  yet 
declares,  that  they  ought  to  be  obeyed,  both  in  cele- 

*  Lubi,  Sistem.  de  Theol.,  trac.  de  matr. 
t  According  to  the  correction  of  D.  Prud.  Marant.  Ad  calcem 
oper.  St.  Justin. 
X  Decret.  Grat.,  causa  35,  quest  6,  can.  2. 
^  Epist.  2,  ad  Amphilech. 


DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CHURCH.         33 

hrating  matrimony  ajid  in  making  a  will,  either  of 
which  otherwise  would  be  invalid  and  useless* 

St.  Augustine  teaches  that  marriages  with  sec- 
ond nephews  or  neices  were  lawful,  because  the 
divine  law  did  not  prohibit  them,  nor  had  human 
law  as  yet  prohibited  them.f  The  council  of  Or- 
leans in  A.  D.  541,  declared  null  those  marriages 
of  slaves  and  of  minors  which  had  not  received 
the  assent  of  the  parents  and  masters.^ 

Theodore  of  Canterbury  says  in  his  collection  of 
canons,  that  among  the  Latins  no  marriages  were 
permitted  within  the  fifth  degree  of  affinity,  as 
appeared  from  the  Roman  questions.^ 

St.  Theodoret  the  learned,  when  consulted  re- 
specting the  validity  of  second  marriages  ;  seeing 
they  were  deprived  of  the  sacerdotal  blessing,  in 
which  the  Greeks  affirm  that  matrimony  consists  ; 
replied,  unhesitatingly,  that  they  tuere  legitimate 
marriages  when  contracted  in  conformity  with  the 
laws.^ 

Nicolas  I.  replied  to  the  bishops  of  Belgium 
that  according  to  the  laws  respecting  matrimony,  the 
consent  of  the  parties  was  sufficient,  and  that  the 
nuptial  blessing  might  be  omitted  without  sin** 

Adrian  II,,  when  consulted  respecting  a  mar- 
riage celebrated  according  to  all  the  forms  pre- 
scribed in  the  civil  law,  but  without  the  interven- 

*  St.  Ambrose,  Ep.  13,  ad  Sjt.,  says  :  "  God  can  not  approve 
the  marriages  of  the  faithful  with  unbelievers,  because  the  law- 
prohibits  them."  See  his  Epist.  ad  Patern.  Jo.  Cr.  Homil., 
15  ad  pop.  Antioch. 

t  De  Civit  Dei.,  lib.  15,  cap.  16. 

t  Tom.  6,  col.  385. 

§  Tom.  1,  Spicileg. 

*iT  Epist.  50,  ad  Naucrat. 

*•  Conci],  Tom.  S,  art.  2,  c^il.  517,  art.  3,  col.  518. 


34  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

tion  of  a  priest,  decided  that  such  a  marriage,  since 
it  exhibited  nothing  conflicting  with  canonical  law, 
could  not  he  condemned* 

Yvo  de  Chartres,  the  most  able  canonist  of  the 
12th  century,  maintains  in  all  his  letters  that  mat- 
rimony is  neither  valid  nor  invalid  except  by  virtue 
of  the  civil  laws.^ 

Alexander  III.,  when  consulted  touching  the 
validity  of  a  marriage,  ratified  merely  with  the 
ceremonies  prescribed  in  civil  law,  decided  that 
it  was  of  such  complete  validity  that  in  case  either 
-party  should  marry  another,  even  after  carnal  con- 
nexion, the  same  would  be  obliged  to  return  to  the 
frst  marriage.\ 

Benedict  X.  being  asked  by  the  patriarch  Gau- 
dencius,  whether  there  was  any  impediment  to 
matrimony  between  a  young  woman  and  a  young 
man  who  had  been  espoused  to  a  deceased  sister 
of  the  former,  answered  that  he  could  not  con- 
demn a  marriage  which  neither  the  scriptures  nor 
the  civil  laws  condemned. § 

Pius  VI.,  in  the  briefs  addressed  to  the  Bishop 
of  Lysia,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Tarsus,  declares 
valid  and  lawful  such  marriages  as  had  been  con- 
tracted during  the  revolution,  on  condition  they  had 
been  conformable  to  civil  law. 

Benedict  XIV.  had  already  decided  to  the  same 
effect  respecting  the  Dutch.  The  Bishop  of  Lan- 
gres   in   his    pasoral   instructions,    15th   March, 

*  Beluz.  Miscell.,  torn.  1. 

t  Epist.  167.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  first  general  Lat- 
eran  Council  founds  its  prohibition  of  the  marriage  of  kinsfolk 
both  upon  divme  and  secular  law. 

X  Tom.  10,  Concil.,  col.  1574. 

6  Tom.  10.  col.  1581. 


DOCTRINE    OF    THE    CHURCH.  35 

1791,  declares  that  tlie  nuptial  blessing  will  con- 
tinue to  be  administered  to  those  who  desire  it, 
although  not  considered  essential  to  the  validity  of 
the  civil  contract.* 

Innumerable  documents  are  offered  us  by  the 
history  of  the  church,  from  which  we  learn  that 
the  ground  of  prohibitions  and  legal  impediments 
to  matrimony  in  early  times  was  either  the  divine 
law,  or  that  of  the  civil  government.  It  is  true 
that  in  some  of  the  Fathers  and  councils,  princi- 
pally those  of  the  9th  century  and  subsequent 
periods,  are  occasionally  found  decisions  relative 
to  the  validity  of  matrimony.  This  circumstance 
is  owing  in  part  to  the  duty  imposed  on  the  church 
of  examining  their  validity,  Avith  reference  to 
sanctifying  them  by  the  sacrament ;  which  in- 
sensibly led  her  ministers  to  think  themselves 
authorized  to  legislate  respecting  said  contract. 
In  addition  to  this  was  the  consent  and  approba- 
tion of  sovereigns,  who  having  resorted  to  the 
nuptial  blessing  as  the  most  efficacious  means  of 
securing  honesty  in  matrimonial  engagements  and 
happiness  to  the  married  state,  often  yielded  up  to 
the  ministers  of  the  church  decisions  respecting 
matrimony,  just  as  they  had  done  subsequent  to 
Constantine,  with  many  other  questions  of  merely 
temporal  concern.  Part,  finally,  was  owing  to  the 
ignorance  of  sovereigns  themselves,  who  in  the 

*  Reference  should  be  made  to  the  celebrated  conference 
between  the  Archbishop  of  Cambis  and  the  Cardinal  Antoneli, 
which  is  found  in  the  collection  of  Briefs.  The  Cardinal  there 
maintains  that  mutual  consent  is  the  essential  part  of  matri- 
mony, and  consequently,  that  marriages  among  the  French, 
although  unaccompanied  by  the  forms  required  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,  should  be  considered  valid,  unless  their  invalidity 
were  shown  upon  other  principles. 


36  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

dark  ages  delivered  themselves  wholly  up  to  the 
direction  of  priests,  while  those  priests  assumed 
not  only  to  legislate  upon  matrimony,  but  also 
upon  wills,  upon  the  persons  and  property  of  ec- 
clesiastics, upon  churches,  and  even  upon  the 
rights  of  citizens  and  the  destiny  of  empires.* 

But  as  nothing  is  easier  than  to  quibble  upon 
vague  quotations,  we  perceive  that  an  attempt  has 
been  made  to  refute  all  these  considerations,  by 
means  of  a  canon  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  We 
now  proceed  to  dispose  of  this  objection  which 
appears  insurmountable  to  those  who  have  either 
no  desire  or  no  ability  to  reason. 


SCHOLIUM. 

THE  4th  canon  of  THE  24tH  SESSION  OF  THE 
COUNCIL  OF  TRENT  DOES  NOT  BIAS  THE  PRES- 
ENT   QUESTION. 

A  fixed  principle  in  sacred  hermeneutics  is, 
that  councils  must  he  understood  and  interpreted 
according  to  tJie  object  they  had  in  view  in  the  for- 
mation of  this  or  that  canon. 

Now,  since  it  is  undeniable  that  the  Fathers 
assembled  in  the  Council  of  Trent  proposed  to 
themselves  no  other  object  than  that  of  combating 
and  anathematizing  the  errors  of  Luther  and  his 
sectaries,  it  evidently  follows  that  the  canon  under 
consideration  condemns  no  other  opinion  than  that 
which  denied  to  the  church  the  power  of  estab- 

*  Fleury  4  and  7,  Disc,  sur.,  Hist.  Eccl.  Beside  this,  con- 
sult the  diiFerent  general  and  minor  councils,  e.  g.  the  4th  Lat- 
eral!, where  will  be  found  a  specimen  of  legislation,  civil  eind 
penal,  upon  matters  purely  temporal. 


COUNCIL     OF    TRENT.  37 

lishing  any  other  impediments  than  those  laid 
doAvn  in  Leviticus,  without  pretending  to  decide 
whether  the  contract  of  matrimony  among  Chris- 
tians was  distinct  from  the  sacrament,  or  whether 
the  right  of  imposing  legal  impediments  which  the 
church  possessed,  was  delegated  to  her  by  the 
temporal  authority.  The  council  decided  truly. 
For  the  church  had  the  right  of  imposing  true  and 
valid  impediments,  proceeding  either  from  a  pre- 
carious and  delegated  authority,  or  from  that 
which  was  proper  and  essential.* 

Nor  was  it  possible  that  the  council  should  de- 
cide with  other  views — a  council  which  proposed 
to  decide  nothing  dogmatically,  unless  as  was 
their  duty,  their  decisions  were  based  on  scripture 
and  tradition,  and  unless  by  discussion  they  could 
obtain  a  unanimity  of  votes.  Now  on  this  subject 
no  passage  of  scripture  was  found  to  favor  the 
opposite  view,  while,  on  the  contrary,  all  tradition 
formally  condemned  it.  Besides,  the  most  able 
theologians  were,  and  have  continued  to  be,  even 
since  the  Council  of  Trent,  of  our  own  opinion. 
These  circumstances  clearly  prove  that  canon  to 
have  contemplated  no  other  object  than  that  of 
confirming  Catholics  against  heretics  in  the  doc- 
trine that  they  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  impedi- 
ments established  by  the  church  properly  under- 
stood ;  until  either  she  or  the  power  which  had 
ceded  to  her  the  right  in  question  or  permitted  to 
her  its  exercise,  should  revoke  them, 

Melchior  Cano,  the  bishop  so  distinguished  at 
the  Council  of  Trent,  and  whose  writings  still  en- 
joy the  respect  and  veneration  of  the  orthodox, 

*  Palavicini,  Hist.  Cone.  Trid. 
4 


38  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

maintains  that  among  Catholics  many  marriages 
have  no  characteristic  of  a  sacrament. 

Now  it  must  be  evident  that  such  being  merely 
civil  contracts  can  not  be  subject  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  church  except  by  permission  of  the 
temporal  authority. 

Giles  Foscari,  bishop  of  Modena,  maintains 
that  temporal  authority  has  lost  none  of  its  jurisdic- 
tion over  matrimony  hy  the  circumstance  of  its  be- 
ing constituted  a  sacrament* 

Catarinus,  bishop  of  Conza,  who  rendered  him- 
self illustrious  at  the  council  referred  to,  asserts 
that  when  Christ  made  matrimony  a  sacrament, 
he  in  no  way  altered  its  natural  or  political  rela- 
tions ;  and  hence  it  will  always  remain  the  same, 
and  in  the  same  manner  subject  to  that  authority 
which  presides  over  civil  order. f 

The  celebrated  Peter  Soto,  a  theologian  of 
Pius  IV.,  declared  in  the  same  council  that  it  was 
through  the  willingness  and  piety  of  princes  that 
the  church  had  acquired  the  right  of  imposing  im- 
pediments to  matrimony.!  Jacob  Naclantus,||  and 
Domingos  Soto,"^  were  of  the  same  sentiment,  not- 
withstanding they  voted  to  establish  the  4th  canon 
of  the  24th  section.  Besides  these,  numberless 
others  have  continued  to  defend  our  views,  and 
at  the  present  day  they  are  current  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  universities  of  Europe. 

From  all  this  we  conclude  that  the  council  of 
Trent  decided  merely  that  Christians  ought  to  be 

*  Palavicin  Hist.  Cone.  Trid.,  Lib.  22. 

t  Trat.  dos  Matrimonios  Cland.,  em  1552. 

X  Lib.  3.  Inst.  Christ. — de  Sacr.  Matr. — de  Instr.  sacer. 

II  Trat.  16,  de  irrit.  eland,  eonj.      §  In  4  cent.  Dist.  40. 


COUNCIL    OF    TRENT.  39 

subject  to  those  impediments  established  by  the 
church. 

But  if  any  thing  else  was  meant,  as  far  as  the 
present  question  is  concerned,  it  was  neither  fol- 
lowed nor  adopted  by  many  orthodox  writers  and 
several  entire  kingdoms,  did  not  consent  to  its 
publication,  but  continued  to  establish  and  re- 
voke impediments  at  their  own  pleasure,  the 
council  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Now 
it  is  a  maxim  of  St.  Bernard,  founded  on  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church,  that  "  ivhe7i  the  orthodox  are 
in  doiiht,  there  is  no  authority.''''  From  this,  it  fol- 
lows, at  least,  that  our  opinion  is  not  heretical.* 

Upon  this  subject  it  may  be  well  to  consult  the 
famous  work  of  Lonoa.  Regia  in  matrimonium 
potestas ;  the  Elements  of  Christian  Theology, 
by  Anthony  of  Genoa — the  letter  of  M.  Leplat  to 
Pope  Pius  VI.,  in  1782  ;  the  works  of  Pereira, 
Rieger,  Eibel  ;  the  article  Marriage  et  Empcche- 
ment,  &c. ;  Dictionaire  TheoL,  de  Bergier ;  and, 
above  all,  the  work  of  Tabarus — Principles  of 
Distinction  between  the  Contract  and  Sacrament  of 
Matrimony;  Paris  edition,  1825.  The  latter 
work,  especially,  discusses  this  subject,  with  the 
most  profound  skill  and  erudition,  and  gives  ref- 
erence to  other  celebrated  writers,  who  may  be 
consulted  with  great  propriety.! 

*  FidKS  ambiguum  non  habet,  quod  si  habet,fidis  non  est. 

t  Anthony,  of  Genoa,  generally  speaks  with  the  greatest 
reserve  respecting  all  ultramontane  maxims,  which  he  doubt- 
less abhorred ;  nevertheless,  on  the  present  question  he  ex- 
plains himself  as  follows  :  "  There  has  been  no  little  contro- 
versy upon  the  question  to  whom  belongs  the  right  of  estab- 
lishing legal  impediments  to  matrimony.  But  since  matri- 
mony is  in  the  first  place  a  civil  contract,  the  regulation  of  it 
without  doubt  belongs   to  the  sovereign.     As  a  sacrament, 


40  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 


GENERAL  INFERENCES. 

From  the  considerations  already  adduced,  the 
following  reflections  necessarily  arise: — 

1.  Matrimony,  as  a  contract,  is  entirely  and 
exclusively  subordinate  to  civil  authority. 

2.  Spiritual  authority  may  require  conditions, 
without  which  the  sacrament  can  not  be  adminis- 
tered. 

3.  As  it  would  be  an  outrage  for  a  sovereign  to 
assume  to  regulate  the  sacrament  and  prescribe  its 
forms,  under  pretext  that  said  sacrament  falls  un- 
der a  contract  subject  to  his  jurisdiction  ;  so  is  it 
an  equal  outrage  for  the  church  to  assume  to  reg- 
ulate the  contract  of  matrimony,  under  pretext 
that  it  is  merged  in  the  sacrament. 

4.  To  prescribe  those  rules  by  which  matrimo- 
ny may  be  validly  contracted,  with  reference  to 
fulfilling  the  designs  of  Providence,  falls  within 
the  prerogative  of  sovereigns. 

5.  To  examine  whether  the  contract  is  lawfully 
consummated  according  to  laws  human  and  divine, 
in  order  to  become  worthy  of  sanctification  by  the 
sacrament,  and  to  prescribe  forms  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  latter,  belongs  to  the  authority  of 
the  church. 

6.  Notwithstanding  the  church  has  possessed 
the  power  of  establishing  and  dispensing  impedi- 

however,  neither  the  most  powerful  sovereigns  nor  the  (N.  B.) 
church  herself  has  any  right  to  interfere  with  its  substance." 
He  concludes  thus :  "  The  impediments  which  appear  to  be 
imposed  by  the  church  are  none  other  than  those  of  natural 
or  divine  right,  which  consequently  she  does  not  determine, 
but  merely  declares." 


GENERAL    INFERENCES.  41 

ments,  either  through  the  consent,  ignorance,  or 
permission  of  the  temporal  authority,  yet  this  ju- 
risdiction is  precarious,  and  might  at  any  moment 
be  taken  away  and  restored  where  it  belongs,  by 
a  natural  and  essential  right,  and  is  consequently 
inalienable. 

7.  The  Council  of  Trent  did  not  and  could  not 
design  to  condemn  this  opinion,  because  it  is  the 
only  true  one ;  according  to  the  nature  of  matri- 
mony, the  practice  of  the  church  in  her  most  pros- 
perous periods,  and  the  example  of  Catholic  mon- 
archs,  who  have  established,  dispensed,  and  an- 
nulled impediments,  when  and  as  they  judged 
proper. 


42  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 


PROPOSITION  SECOND. 

THERE    IS    NECESSITY    OF    ABOLISHING    THE 
IMPEDIMENT    OF    CLERICAL    ORDERS. 

Being  now  assured  that  supreme  jurisdiction  on 
this  subject  belongs  to  temporal  authority,  nothing 
remains  but  to  show  the  propriety  or  the  necessity 
of  abolishing  the  impediment  of  orders,  so  that 
priests  may  lawfully  marry. 

This  necessity  will  be  manifest  from  three 
striking  considerations.  1.  The  injustice  of  that 
impediment.  2.  The  gTeat  evils  it  occasions,  in- 
stead of  producing  any  good.  3.  Because,  although 
it  were  innocent,  yet  it  is  useless. 

§1.    THE    IMPEDIMENT    OF    CLERICAL    ORDERS    IS 
UNJUST. 

No  human  law  can  be  just  unless  it  is  based  upon 
natural  right.  Society,  of  whatever  kind,  has,  and 
can  have,  no  other  object  than  that  of  securing  the 
common  good  of  its  members.  Whenever,  then, 
any  law  deprives  man  of  a  right  bestowed  on  him 
by  the  Author  of  nature,  except  in  cases  where 
the  privation  of  that  right  is  indispensable  to  the 
general  welfare,  it  becomes  manifestly  unjust. 

The  right  which  man  possesses  of  contracting 
matrimony,  is  one  essential  to  our  species.  It  is 
a  right  so  sacred  that  its  exercise,  in  many  cases, 
becomes  a  duty  of  the  greatest  importance  to  so- 


IMPEDIMENT    UNJUST.  43 

ciety  and  to  individuals.  How  then  can  any  human 
authority  determine  that  a  priest  may  not  contract 
matrimony  ?  To  determine  that  he  may  not  make 
that  contract  until  after  a  certain  age,  when  nature 
determines  the  periods  between  which  it  ought  to 
take  place  ;  to  determine  that  he  may  not  without 
the  previous  consent  of  those  to  vi^hom  as  a  minor 
he  is  responsible,  and  without  certain  formalities 
requisite  to  secure  the  perpetuity  of  the  contract, 
or  without  certain  compliances  which  make  it 
lawful,  honorable,  and  suitable  to  the  reception  of 
the  sacrament ;  all  this  may  be  prudently  and 
practically  conceded  as  the  prerogative  of  civil 
jurisdiction. 

Such  impediments  proceeding  from  human  pow- 
er, have  no  tendency  to  deprive  man  of  his  essen- 
tial right  in  this  case,  but  merely  to  prevent  his 
exercising  it  in  an  improper  manner.  The  im- 
pediment of  orders  alone  tends  to  nullify  this 
right.  If  the  contract  is  prohibited  by  other  im- 
pediments in  this  way,  it  is  permitted  in  that.  If 
it  is  denied  at  one  time  it  is  granted  at  another. 
In  the  case  of  orders,  however,  there  is  no  time, 
no  place,  no  circumstance,  which  can  permit  the 
enjoyment  of  that  natural  right.  This  simple 
reason  abundantly  proves  the  injustice  of  such  an 
impediment. 

It  is  objected,  that  since  in  the  general  neither 
this  man  nor  that  is  obliged  to  marry,  the  right 
may  with  propriety  be  ceded.  Under  the  plausi- 
bility of  this  reasoning,  an  attempt  is  made  to 
hide  the  injustice  of  the  law.  The  futility  of  that 
attempt,  I  proceed  to  show. 

No  man  can  cede  rights  with  which  he  is  en- 


44  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

dowed  by  the  good  pleasure  of  his  Creator.  Such 
an  act  would  be  characterized  by  irreflection,  and 
hence  would  be  rebellion  against  the  general  or- 
der of  that  providence  by  which  all  things  have 
been  arranged  in  view  of  certain  determinate  ends, 
and  to  which  every  man  is  obliged  to  conform. 
Besides,  the  propensity  to  matrimony  being  innate 
and  essential  to  the  species,  is  liable  to  become  a 
passion,  and  in  such  case  extremely  difficult  if  not 
impossible  to  control. 

How  then  can  any  man  without  the  height  of 
imprudence,  and  a  wicked  pride,  yield  up  for  ever 
a  right,  the  exercise  of  which  often  becomes  a 
duty,  and  the  sacrifice  of  which  may  bring  in  its 
train  the  violation  of  many  other  duties  ?  This 
impropriety  becomes  the  more  notable  in  propor- 
tion to  the  little  or  no  good  resulting  from  the  sac- 
rifice. To  yield  this  right  temporarily  in  the  spirit 
of  penitence  and  self-denial,  with  a  view  to  a 
better  discharge  of  duty,  according  to  the  explana- 
tion of  the  Fathers  ;  or  for  life,  with  this  reserve 
— provided  its  cession  shall  be  compatible  with 
personal  happiness  and  the  discharge  of  other  du- 
ties. Thus  much  is  prudent  and  approved  by  re- 
ligion. To  this  it  is  rejoined  that  since  absolute 
continence  is  possible  to  all,  all  who  subject  them- 
selves to  it  are  under  perpetual  obligations  to  re- 
main in  celibacy. 

I  have  no  wish  to  appeal  to  the  constitution  of 
human  nature,  nor  to  the  history  of  those  gener- 
ally useless  efforts  which  have  been  made  in  this 
species  of  sacrifice,  but  for  the  present  simply  to 
consult  the  sentiments  of  Christian  antiquity. 

St.  Ignatius   in  the  1st  century  said — if  any 


THE    IMPEDIMENT  UNJUST.  45 

one  is  able  to  abide  in  celibacy,  let  him  do  it 
with  humility.* 

St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  the  2d  century, 
called  those  happy  on  whom  God  had  bestowed 
the  gift  of  chastity .f 

St.  Cyprian,  in  the  3d  century,  preferred  that 
even  those  virgins  who  had  consecrated  them- 
selves to  God,  should  marry  in  case  they  lacked 
either  the  desire  or  the  ability  to  persevere  in 
chastity. I 

St.  Epiphanus,  of  the  same  century,  more  than 
once  admits  that  many  can  not  dispense  with  mar- 
riage.! 

St.  Augustine  and  St.  Jerome,  of  the  4th  cen- 
tury, affirm  that  virginity  is  a  gift  of  God,  not  con- 
ferred upon  all.^ 

St.  Gregory  the  great,  in  the  6th  century,  per- 
mits members  of  the  priesthood  who  can  not  per- 
severe in  continence,  to  marry. Tj 

Numberless  quotations  might  be  added,  which 
are  unnecessary,  since  St.  Paul  taught  the  Cor- 
inthians that  it  were  "  better  to  marry  than  to 
burn  ;"**  and  Christ  himself  declared  that  conti- 
nence was  a  divine  gift,  and  that  all  were  not  ca- 
pable of  maintaining  the  resolution  to  practise  it. ft 

*  Ep  ad  Polyc,  n.  5.  f  Oper.  Clem.,  str.  3. 

J  Cypr.  de  hab.  virg.,  et  ep.  ad  Pomp. 

II  Epiph.  Haeres.  59.  §  Jeron  adv.,  Jovin. 

il  Reply  to  the  2d  question  of  St.  August.  Ap. — Siqui  vero 
sunt  clerici  extra  sacros  Ordines  constittiti,  qui  se  continerc  non 
possunt,sortiriuxores  debent.  It  matters  not  that  this  permis- 
sion is  merely  extended  to  the  lower  clergy ;  it  is  sufficient 
for  my  purpose  that  he  admits  that  some  are  not  obligated  to 
continue  in  celibacy. 

**  Ep  ad  Cor.  1.,  cap.  7.  v.  Pereira's  note. 

tt  Math,  cap  19,  v.  11.  The  text  embraces  the  opinions  of 
Tertulian,  St.  Ambrose,  and  others.  Vide  their  commenta- 
ries. 


46  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

Doubtless  for  these  reasons  the  church  even 
at  the  present  time  does  not  regard  vows  of  chas- 
tity, although  perpetual,  as  an  impediment  w^hich 
mars  the  validity  of  matrimony. 

Yet,  if  anything  whatever  is  capable  of  dis- 
qualifying a  person  for  this  contract,  it  must  be 
the  vow  of  chastity,  which  is,  according  to  theo- 
logians, a  deliberate  promise  made  by  one  capable 
of  that  which  is  promised  to  God,  who  accepts  it  in 
view  of  a  greater  good.  In  the  person  professing' 
the  vow  there  is  no  constraint,  but  simply  the  de- 
sire of  perfection.  He  has  yielded  up  a  right 
which  he  might  enjoy,  or  omit  to  enjoy,  in  view 
of  becoming  better.  It  appears,  then,  that  this 
sacred  pledge  has  taken  away  all  liberty  of  ever 
returning  to  the  forfeited  right.  But  for  what 
reason  has  the  church  ever  recognised  the  valid- 
ity of  matrimony,  when  contracted  by  such  per- 
sons ?*  I  can  discover  no  other  than  that  which 
St.  Cyprian  gave,  that  they  be  not  co?ide?nned,j  be- 
cause God  does  not  take  advantage  of  the  impru- 
dence of  men. 

Such  vows,  after  all,  must  be  considered  as 
conditional  with  respect  to  their  object,  to  which 

*  In  speaking  of  vows  of  chastity,  I  make  no  distinction 
between  the  simple  and  the  solemn  vow.  All  know  that  they 
are  essentially  the  same,  and  are,  before  God,  of  equal  obli- 
gation, and  that  the  distinction  was  invented  by  Gracian,  in 
order  to  reconcile  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  early 
fathers  with  the  2d  Lateran  Council,  which  constituted  the  sol- 
emn vow  of  the  2d  in  the  monastic  profession,  an  absolute 
impediment  to  matrimony.  This  doctrine,  however,  was 
not  practised  in  the  church,  either  with  respect  to  the  mo- 
nastic profession  or  sacred  orders,  until  after  the  decision  of 
Boniface  VIII.    Cap.  uni.  de  vol.  et  vot.  redemp.  in  6. 

I  Melius  est,  ut  nubaret,  quam  in  ignem  delictis  suis  ca- 
dant.     C3'pr.  Ep.  ad.  Pomp. 


THE    IMPEDIMENT    UNJUST.  47 

there  remains  a  salvo ;  provided  their  fulfilment 
becomes  so  difficult  as  to  compromise  their  hap- 
piness, because  the  church  is  certain  that  this  is 
the  will  of  the  Sovereign  Benefactor. 

Now,  if  such  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
with  respect  to  those  who  voluntarily  make  vows 
of  chastity  to  God,  how  can  we  believe  that  a 
promise  to  continue  in  celibacy,  made  to  men,  is 
so  binding  that  it  can  in  no  case  be  broken  by 
marriage.  Let  us  speak  the  truth.  When  an  in- 
dividual fails  in  a  promise  to  God,  which  he 
could,  although  with  difficulty,  perform,  he  is 
guilty ;  but  his  marriage  is  valid,  because  he  was 
not  at  liberty  wholly  and  absolutely  to  forego  that 
right.  His  promise  in  such  case  was  only  a 
genuine  purpose. 

If,  then,  he  fails  in  his  promise  to  men  when, 
without  inconvenience,  he  could  keep  it,  he,  also, 
is  guilty  ;  but  his  marriage  is  still  more  valid, 
because  the  violation  of  his  promise  is  much  less 
iniquitous.* 

*  The  Council  of  Trent,  session  24,  can.  9,  in  anathema- 
tizing those  who  say  that  persons  who  believe  they  do  not 
possess  the  gift  of  chastity,  although  they  have  vowed  to 
maintain  it,  &c.,  and  those  who  are  prohibited  by  sacred  or- 
ders, &c.,  does  not  at  aU  embarrass  our  views ;  because  that 
canon  could  never  have  had  the  design  of  prohibiting  that 
respectful  censure  which  every  subject  may  exercise  toward 
a  law  or  regulation,  when  it  appears  grievous  and  unjust. 

The  council  could  not,  therefore,  have  had  any  other  de- 
sign than  that  of  condemning  the  anti-social  doctrine  of 
those  who  affirm  that  the  subject  may  with  impunity  violate 
a  law,  when  it  appears  to  him  unjust  or  impracticable.  Good 
order  certainly  requires  respect  for  the  law  until  it  is  revoked, 
or  at  least  until  the  opinion  of  its  injustice,  its  inutility,  or 
impracticability,  has  become  general.  Thus  many  laws  have 
fallen  into  disuse,  and  their  obligation  has  ceased.  Eg., 
among  others,  the  penitential  canons,  and  those  prescribing  a 
single  kind  of  food  in  fasting,  abstinence  from  blood  and  the 


48  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

The  church  is  so  persuaded  of  this  truth,  that 
when  a  Christian,  bound  by  such  vows,  presents 
himself  before  her,  showing  the  inconveniences 
of  his  promise,  as  the  interpreter  of  the  will  of 
God,  she  easily  dispenses  him  from  the  restrain- 
ing impediment,  and  among  the  thousand  reserved 
cases  which  the  popes  have  made,  they  never  in- 
cluded that  of  this  impediment.  At  least  it  is 
certain  that  bishops  dispense  it  without  recourse 
to  them.* 

How  does  this  proceeding  compare  with  the 
practice  introduced  in  the  12th  century,  of.  ad- 
judging the  marriages  of  priests  null,  merely  be- 
cause they  had  subjected  themselves  to  the  laws 
of  the  church  by  which  marriage  was  probibited  ? 
Can  any  one  persuade  himself  that  an  obligation 
contracted  toward  the  church  is  of  more  force 
than  one  contracted  toward  God  ? 

Those  who  do  not  profess  the  maxims  of  des- 
potism, who  are  convinced  that  no  mere  whim  is 
indulged  in  the  government  of  the  world,  but  that 
the  arrangements  of  providence  manifest  high 
and  holy  designs,  worthy  of  God  himself,  will 
not  hesitate  to  receive  this  truth.  No  one  is  ca- 
pable of  depriving  man  absolutely  and  arbitrarily 
of  the  rights  to  contract  matrimony. 

It  is  said,  however,  that  the  church  having  the 
right  to  require  certain  qualifications  in  her  minis- 
ters, may  require  celibacy  as  a  necessary  condi- 
tion.    Without  yet  deciding  whether  she  can  pru- 

flesh  of  animals  strangled,  notwithstanding  they  were  all 
enacted  in  an  apostolic  council.    We  shall  presently  have  oc- 
casion to  justify  our  conduct  more  fully  in  censuring  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  church  concerning  celibacy. 
•  Vide  Appendix,  note  A. 


A    SOURCE    OF     IMMORALITY.  49 

dently  require  this  of  them,  I  will  remark  that  she 
ought  not  to  deprive  them  of  a  right  with  which  as 
men  they  are  endowed  by  Heaven,  but  when  they 
are  unwilling  to  remain  subject  to  her  regulations, 
to  divest  them  of  her  ministry  as  the  eastern  church 
does,  and  as  the  Roman  church  did  till  the  12th 
century. 

Let  us  return  to  our  question.  I  shall  no  lon- 
ger dispute  xvith  the  church  respecting  the  imped- 
iment of  orders  ;  because  she  has  no  control  over 
the  contract  of  matrimony,  by  inherent  right. 
The  civil  authority  can  neither  deprive  a  citizen 
of  the  right  to  marry,  nor  consent  that  he  be  de- 
prived of  it ;  its  business  is  to  regulate  (and  there- 
fore to  maintain)  that  right.  Hence,  to  decree 
that  the  priest  may  never  marry,  is  absurd,  is  des- 
potic, is  unjust. 

Because  it  is  an  injustice,  because  such  an  in- 
terference is  opposed  to  the  necessities  of  human- 
ity, because  it  imposes  upon  an  entire  class  ex- 
traordinary sacrifices,  not  required  by  the  Al- 
mighty, but  only  adAdsed  to  those  who  are  capable 
of  them  ;  for  these  reasons  such  decrees  have 
always  been  infringed  upon,  and  from  their  infrac- 
tion, evils  have  resulted  greater  than  the  advanta- 
ges of  a  compliance  with  them.  This  will  now 
be  shown. 

§2.     THE    IMPEDIMENT    OF    ORDERS    IS    A    SOURCE 
OF    IMMORALITY    IN    THE    PRIESTHOOD. 

It  is  a  never-failing  maxim  among  those  who 

treat  on  the   science  of  legislation,  that  no   law 

should  he  enacted  when  there  is  a  probability  of  its 

being  constantly  transgressed.     Imprudent  legisla- 

5 


50  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

tors,  who  have  contemned  this  maxim,  have  gen- 
erally suflered  the  chagrin  of  seeing  all  their  ef- 
forts rendered  useless,  and  their  subjects  habitua- 
ted to  despise  other  laws  better  founded  in  justice. 
When  such  a  habit  is  once  contracted  immorality- 
rises  to  its  greatest  height.  Thenceforward  there 
is  neither  order  nor  justice,  each  one  regarding 
himself  the  arbiter  of  his  own  actions,  and  ready 
to  be  governed  either  by  caprice  or  passion.  It  is 
true,  subjects  never  perpetually  despise  or  violate 
a  law  which  does  not  exist  in  contradiction  to  the 
nature  of  things  ;  either  in  being  opposed  to  pub- 
lic sentiment,  the  offspring  of  habit  and  education, 
or  being  impracticable  as  adapted  to  a  few  and 
not  to  the  many  on  whom  it  is  imposed  ;  or,  in 
fine,  until  it  has  become  insignificant  from  having 
no  power  to  promote  public  happiness.  Let  these 
principles  be  applied  to  the  law  establishing  the 
impediment  of  clerical  orders,  and  it  will  be  easy 
to  discover,  why,  ever  since  its  imposition,  it  has 
failed  to  be  observed. 

In  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  when  the  fer- 
vor and  enthusiasm  which  novelty  inspires  had 
taken  possession  of  Christians  ;  when  the  exam- 
ple of  apostolic  men  and  the  prodigies  which  ac- 
companied the  establishment  of  religion,  carried 
persons  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  celibacy  should  be  cultivated  as  a 
penance,  and  that  individuals  of  every  age  and 
condition  should  devote  themselves  to  its  main- 
tenance. But  the  fervor  of  that  period  by  degrees 
growing  cold,  ecclesiastics  themselves  began  to 
decline  into  the  common  relaxation.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  4th  century  downward,  several 


A    SOURCE    OF     IMMORALITY.  51 

private  councils  pretended  to  confirm  the  law  which 
till  then  had  been  followed  only  by  custom  and 
by  choice  of  the  individual ;  that  is,  they  required 
positiv^e  continence  as  a  necessary  condition  to 
sacred  orders  dismissing  from  the  clerical  relation 
the  priest  who  married.  We  will  observe  the  re- 
sult of  this  prohibition. 

Alexander  Natal  observes,  that  notwithstanding 
the  repeated  determination  of  popes  and  councils, 
very  few  subjected  themselves  to  celibacy,  and 
that  the  more  the  observance  of  the  law  was  in- 
sisted upon,  the  greater  evils  appeared.*  In  fact, 
the  least  attention  bestowed  on  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory can  not  fail  to  remark  this  truth. 

Pope  Siricius  in  the  latter  part  of  the  4th  cen- 
tury, complained  bitterly  of  the  abuse  of  the  law, 
and  of  there  being  priests  M^ho  were  ignorant  of 
the  prohibition;  so  completely  inefficient  it  had 
become.! 

St.  Jerome  declared  that  there  were  bishops 
who  were  no  longer  willing  to  ordain  single  men, 
on  account  of  his  assured  fear  of  their  inconti- 
nence.J 

St.  Epiphanius,  of  the  same  century,  certifies 
that  in  many  places,  the  incontinence  of  the  cler- 
gy was  countenanced  in  view  of  human  weakness 
and  for  the  want  of  those  not  subject  to  it.|| 

St.  Ambrose  confesses  that  the  priests  married 
in  many  places,  and  endeavor  to  justify  their 
course  on  the  ground  of  ancient  custom.*^ 

•  Hist.  Eccl.,  Dis.  4  cent.  t  Ep.  ad  Him. 

X  Advers.  Vigil.  ||  Haeres.  59. 

§  Quod  CO  non  praeterii,  quia  in  pierisque  abditioribus  locis, 
cum  ministerium  gererent,  vel  etiam  Sacerdotium,  filios  sus- 
ceperuut ;  et  id  tanquam  use  vetero  defendunt,  &c. 


52  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

Innocent  I.,  in  the  beginning  of  the  5th  cen- 
tury, suffered  married  presbyters  and  deacons 
who  had  been  ignorant  of  the  decretal  of  Siricius, 
to  be  preserved  in  their  orders.  Thus  we  see  to 
what  extent  it  was  forgotten  within  twenty  years 
of  its  date.*  ■» 

Innumerable  are  the  councils  which  endeavored 
to  renevv  a  law  constantly  falling  into  desuetude. 
They  did  not  spare  ecclesiastical  penalties,  and 
sometimes  became  so  extravagant  as  to  decree 
temporal  punishments,  some  of  which  were  man- 
ifestly and  inexcusably  unjust.  Certain  councils 
even  decreed  against  the  priest  who  should  marry, 
the  penalties  of  deposition,  perpetual  imprison- 
ment, fasting  upon  bread  and  water  during  life, 
and  bloody  stripes  beside. f 

Others  prohibited  females  from  marrying  priests, 
condemning  such  as  were  suspected  of  that  inten- 
tion to  have  their  hair  cut  off  in  disgrace,  to  be 
expatriated,  and  even  to  be  sold  and  their  price 
given  to  the  poor. J 

Others  excluded  the  sons  of  priests  from  ordin- 
ation and  ecclesiastical  benefices  ;  declaring  them 
illegitimate  ;  incapable  of  holding  property  ;  con- 
fiscating their  goods  to  the  churches  where  their 
fathers  served  ;  condemning  them  to  servitude, 
and  even  excommunicating  the  judges  who  should 
be  disposed  to  set  them  free.||     To  what  greater 

*  EpisL  ad  Eux,  up. 

t  Cone,  de  Toledo,  can.  1.,  A.  D.  597.  Do.  can.  4,  .5,  6, 
A.  D.  653.     Germanic,  can.  43.     Worms,  can.  9. 

X  Cone,  of  Toledo,  A.  D.  653,  can.  43.  Augsburgh,  can.  4. 
London,  1127,  can.  7,  &c. 

II  Cone,  de  Toledo,  653,  can.  10.  Pavia,  A.  D.  1012,  can.  3, 
4.  Burgo,  1031,  can.  8.  Pictav.,  1078,  can.  8.  Clermont, 
1095  can,  11,  &c. 


A    SOURCE    OF    IMMORALITY.  53 

excesses  could  criminal  legislation  possibly  ar- 
rive ! 

But  what  was  tlie  consequence  ?  The  evil  con- 
tinued ;  the  scandal  augmented,  and  all  the  reme- 
dies became  inefficacious.  From  the  time  that 
persons  who  had  vowed  celibacy  as  an  act  of  de- 
votion were  admitted  to  ecclesiastical  orders,  fre- 
quent abuses  occurred,  which  councils  endeavored 
in  vain  to  remedy. 

The  council  general  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  was 
the  first  to  prohibit  priests  the  society  of  suspect- 
ed women.  The  evil  arrived  at  such  a  pitch  that 
at  length  sisters,  and  even  mothers,  were  forbid- 
den to  reside  with  them,  on  account  of  the  females 
who  would  be  found  in  their  company.* 

Councils  at  last  became  wearied  of  their  use- 
less attempts  to  restrain  the  incontinence  of  priests 
and  of  seeing  their  penalties  frustrated,  whether 
decreed  against  priests  themselves,  their  concu- 
bines, or,  in  fine,  their  innocent  children.  They 
then  proceeded  to  prohibit  the  faithful  from  hear- 
ing masses  said  by  them,  as  though  they  had  no 
means  of  suspending  or  dismissing  them.  Wri- 
ters give  us  a  sad  picture  of  the  licentious  life  of 
those  priests,  while  so  many  and  various  laws  con- 
clusively prove  not  only  the  constant  transgression 
of  the  requirement,  but  also  the  insufficiency  of 
all  the  means  applied  to  check  it.f 

The  last  general  council  discovering  no  other 

*  Concil  de  Turs.,  A.  D.,  566.,  can.  10  and  11.  Maience, 
A.D.  8S8,  10.  Consult  Richard's  Analysis  of  Councils.— St. 
Johan.  Chrys.,  contr.  hab.  cler. 

t  Consult  Nicolas  de  Clemangis. — Do  Estado  da  corrupgao, 
da  Igreja,  ^c.  O  Pranto  da  Igreja  por  Alvaro  Pelagic. — S. 
Pedro  Danriiao—- contra  os  clerigos  impudicos,  &c. 


54  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

remedy  for  the  evil,  contented  itself  in  withhold- 
ing from  the  beneficed  clergy  a  third  part  of  their 
benefice  on  proof  of  the  first  offence  ;  the  whole 
after  the  second,  while  the  third  was  only  made 
to  incur  suspension,  not  dismissal. 

Surely  if  rigorous  and  even  unjust  and  barba- 
rous penalties  had  been  unable  to  put  down  con- 
cubinage, how,  possibly,  could  such  means  ?  In 
fine,  the  same  practice  obtained  anciently  which 
is  current  now.  The  ecclesiastic  was  no  longer 
punished  unless  some  enemy  chose  to  resuscitate 
against  him  a  law  v/hich  has  suffered  as  many 
ages  of  neglect  as- it  has  enjoyed  of  existence. 

Prompt  and  severe  chastisements  may  render 
the  priest  more  cautious,  and  public  opinion  may 
oppose  a  barrier  to  the  scandal,  but  what  is  the 
result  ?  Cases  of  scandal  are  less  frequent,  but 
continence  is  not  as  a  consequence  more  sure. 
Under  the  shade  of  mystery,  crimes  become  great- 
er, although  self-preservation  ensures  their  con- 
cealment.* 

It  should  be  observed  that  incontinence  is  by  no 
means  a  vice  peculiar  to  ecclesiastics,  but  doubt- 
less is  provoked  by  unnatural  restraint.  In  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries,  during  the  rage  of 
anti-matrimonial  principles,  w^e  behold  a  most 
gloomy  picture  drawn  by  St.  Jerome  and  Cyprian 
even  of  virgins  themselves. 

*  When  we  speak  of  abolishing  clerical  celibacy,  many- 
priests  oppose  it,  perhaps,  through  a  mistaken  idea  of  self- 
respect;  or  because  they  are  apprehensive  of  a  failure  in  the 
eflort ;  but  let  it  once  be  reahzed  and  immense  numbers 
would  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege.  This  was  the  case 
in  France,  and  also  in  England,  when,  in  1548,  parliament 
revoked  the  laws  prohibiting  the  marriage  of  priests.  Out  of 
16,000,  12,000  married  within  6  years,  while  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward V.  continued.    V.  Floury  and  Hist,  da  Rev.  Franceza. 


A    SOURCE    OF    IMMORALITY.  55 

In  view  of  it,  the  latter  most  worthy  father,  a  light 
of  the  church,  even  went  so  far  as  to  practice  what 
at  the  present  day  would  appear  reprehensible  to  the 
veriest  idiot ;  perhaps  he  was  excusable  in  view 
of  the  spirit  of  the  age  to  which  he  yielded.* 

Some  trained  up  in  the  rigor  of  monastic  life, 
or  imbued  with  ascetic  notions,  contemplated  the 
universal  prevalence  of  celibacy!  Dazzled  by 
the  splendor  of  the  virtues  of  certain  individuals 
who  had  vowed  celibacy,  little  did  they  regard  the 
frequent  calamities  into  which  others  were  plunged 
in  the  unequal  struggle  between  the  weakness  of 
human  nature  and  the  supremacy  of  an  unnatural 
law.  How  different  was  the  conduct  of  Paul, 
whom  they  could  not  condescend  to  imitate  !  That 
inspired  apostle,  writing  to  Timothy  respecting  a 
case  in  point,  concludes  by  saying :  "  I  will, 
therefore,  that  the  younger  women  marry,  bear 
children,  guide  the  house,  give  none  occasion  to 
the  adversary  to  speak  reproachfully.  For  some 
are  already  turned  aside  after  Satan."  Prudent  in 
his  zeal,  he  did  not  insist  that  widows  should 
remain  unmarried,  and  thus  applied  to  the  evil  its 
proper  remedy. f 

In  view  of  what  has  been  said,  let  the  compar- 
ison be  made  between  the  advantages  arising  from 
obedience  to  the  law  and  the  evils  resulting  from 

*  Epist.  ad.  Pomp.  Inspiciantur  interim  Virgines  ab  obstet- 
ricibus  diligenter — de  habit.  Virg,  What  is  more  notable  is, 
that  such  abuses  existed  in  the  second  century,  as  may  be 
seen  in  Tertul.  de  vel.  Virg.  ad  fin.  where,  among  other  things, 
the  following  may  be  read :  Facillime  concipiunt  et  felicis- 
sime  pariimt  hujusmodi  Virgines  :  haec  admittit  coacta  et 
invita  Virginitas.  Vide  S.  Jeron.  epist  ad  Eustoch.  cap.  5. 
V.  11-13. 

t  V.  Pereira's  Note. 


56  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

its  transgression,  and  it  will  be  easy  to  decide 
whether  it  is  best  to  follow  St.  Paul  or  those 
fathers  and  councils  who  have  so  imprudently 
insisted  upon  advising,  promoting,  and  decreeing 
celibacy.* 

It  is  now  proved,  that  from  the  moment  clerical 
celibacy  was  instituted,  the  law  requiring  it  has 
been  violated  ;  and  it  has  been  violated  because 
legislators  exacted  more  than  the  Divine  Founder 
of  religion  required.  He  was  contented  with 
merely  advising  entire  continence,  and  the  apostle 
very  plainly  remarked,  that  in  exalting  its  merits 
he  wished  to  ensnare  no  one.f 

Pafnucius,  the  octagenarian  bishop  who  had 
already  lost  an  eye  for  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 
whose  life  was  spotless,  in  the  first  general  council 
opposed  the  projected  law  of  celibacy,  showing 
that  such  an  excess  of  rigor  luould  do  the  church 
great  injury,  and  also  that  all  were  not  capable  of 
the  restraint.^ 

Bergier  commends  the  wisdom  of  this  prelate, 
and  the  wisdom  of  the  council  in  listening  to  it ; 
since  to  have  determined  on  celibacy  then,  would 
have  been  to  approbate  the  sect  of  Eucratists,  and 
otiier  heretics  who  condemned  matrimony.^ 

Fleury,  who  is  more  impartial,  and  incompara- 
tively  more  judicious,  admires  the  wisdom  of  the 
council  in  not  establishing  a  law  which  would,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  be  violated.^ 

*  St.  Clement,  Strom.  3,  recommends    neither  to  depress 
matrimony  nor  imprudently  exalt  celibacy, 
t  1  Ep.  ad  Corinth,  7,  35. 
X  Socrates  a  Sozom,  Hist.  Eccl. 
6  Art.  Cehb.  Diction.  Theologique, 
\\  Hist.  Eccl.  4  cent. 


A    SOURCE    OF    IMMORALITY.  57 

Alexander  Natal  maintains  that  the  Council  of 
Thebes,  very  far  from  favoring  laxity  of  morals  ,  on 
the  contrary,  by  applying  the  remedy  to  inconti- 
nence, promoted  the  honor  and  the  welfare  of  the 
church.*  It  is  needless  to  cite  more  authorities  to 
prove  what  the  experience  of  the  church  for 
fifteen  centuries  has  sufficiently  demonstrated. 
Thus  an  imprudently  established  law,  accustoming 
subjects  to  disobedience  and  contempt  of  authority, 
introduces  licentiousness. 

But  if  the  law  requiring  celibacy  has  this  incon- 
venience in  common  with  other  impolitic  laws,  it 
has,  besides,  a  direct  tendency  to  demoralization 
of  a  still  more  important  bearing,  as  I  will  proceed 
to  show. 

Before  the  priest — especially  the  cure  of  souls — 
from  the  unhappy  moment  in  which  he  yields  to 
illicit  inclinations,  two  roads  are  opened  leading  to 
the  very  abyss  of  ruin,  one  of  which  he  will  inevita- 
bly follow — that  of  apostacy,  or  that  of  aggravated 
wickedness.  If  he  continues  to  believe  in  religion, 
he  finds  himself  arraigned  as  a  criminal  by  the 
principles  he  professes,  and  convicted  of  nefarious 
sacrilege  every  time  he  exercises  a  ministry  pol- 
luted with  such  a  crime. f  Shame  or  interest  in 
the  beginning  overcome  remorse,  and  by  degrees 
habit  is  confirmed  ;  thus,  in  a  short  time  the 
transgression  of  so  many  and  such  sacred  laws 
capacitate  him  for  any  crime.  Hence  the  adage, 
"  to  him  that,  is  lost,  every  thing  is  gainT  \ 

But,  if  he  can  not  resist  remorse,  he  resorts  to 

*  Disertas.  ao  4,  Seculo  da  Historia. 

t  Vide  Appendix  B. 

%  A  hum  perdido,  tudo  faz  conta. 


58  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

deism,  and  organizes  a  religion  to  suit  his  inclina- 
tions ;  or,  perhaps,  to  the  greater  injury  of  himself 
and  society,  he  lapses  into  the  dark  and  doubtful 
system  of  atheism  or  materialism,  and  under  the 
mask  of  hypocrisy  continues  to  receive  the  conve- 
niences and  emoluments  offered  him  by  the  sacred 
ministry  of  religion.  I  appeal  to  experience. 
Let  the  testimony  of  impartial  observers  be  re- 
garded. 

The  priest  who  is  given  to  monied  speculations 
or  to  gambling,  who  is  negligent,  fretful,  ambitious, 
proud,  or  avaricious,  finds  a  thousand  pretexts 
which  seem  to  lessen  his  guilt  and  to  palliate 
conscience  ;  he  may  be  self-deceived,  and  in  the 
supposition  of  good  faith  may  still  exercise  his 
ministry  with  profit  to  the  faithful  (!).  This  the 
incontinent  priest  can  not  do.  Christian  morality 
teaches  him  that  in  this  class  of  transgressions 
there  is  no  insignificance  ;  every  act  is  great,  is 
mortal  sin.  Weakness  and  passion  may  cause  his 
will  to  yield,  but  they  can  not  seduce  his  reason, 
while  he  does  not  cast  off  the  religious  principles 
of  his  profession.  Hence  incontinence  extends 
and  communicates  vice  to  all  his  actions,  which 
thus  become  necessarily  corrupted.  For  this 
reason  it  will  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  find  an 
incontinent  priest  who  is  not,  in  other  respects, 
wicked.  Here  also  is  the  reason  why  the  greater 
share  of  impartial  historians  bestow  so  much  praise 
on  the  Greek  and  Protestant  clergy,  when  they 
compare  their  morality  with  that  of  Catholic  priests 
in  general.* 

*  St.  Peter  Damian  says,  that  when  he  went  to  the  bishopric 
of  Turin  he  found  the  ecclesiastics  of  that  place  very  upiight 
and  well-instructed— satis  honesti  et  decenter  instruct!— but 


PUBLIC    IMMORALITY.  59 

§3.    IMMORALITY    IN  THE    PRIEST    HAS  A  PECULIAR 
TENDENCY    TOWARD    PUBLIC    IMMORALITY. 

Being  certain  that  a  forced  celibacy  is  the  origin 
and  principal  cause  of  the  immorality  of  the  clergy, 
it  becomes  us  now  to  observe,  that  this  conduces 
in  an  especial  manner  toward  immorality  in 
society  at  large. 

Religion  consists  of  two  parts  :  speculative  and 
practical.  The  first  relates  to  faith,  the  second 
to  duty.  Now,  inasmuch  as  public  morality  is 
closely  allied  to  religion,  and  in  fact  an  essential 
part  of  it,  and  inasmuch  as  the  priests  are  the 
administrators  of  it,  being  charged  by  the  sacred- 
ness  of  their  office  with  the  reform  of  morals, 
and  for  this  purpose  nearly  all  receiving  public 
salary  and  emoluments  ;  why  do  not  those  results 
appear  which  ought  to  be  expected  1  It  is  because 
their  conduct  is  in  contradiction  with  their  opin- 
ions ;  their  examples  are  not  conformable  to  their 
precepts,  and  their  words  are  destitute  of  unction 
and  of  life  ;  because  their  ministry  is  discharged 
in  a  formal  and  idle  manner  ;  and  because  their 
views  and  purposes  do  not  accord  with  the  objects 
and  institutions  of  religion. 

The  parish  priest  baptizes,  preaches,  and  hears 
confessions,  but  how  does  he  discharge  those 
important  offices  ?  A  vain  outside,  often  even 
divested  of  decency,  is  what  for  the  most  part 
offers  itself  to  the  eyes  of  the  serious  observer. 

learning  that  they  were  married  by  permission  of  Conibertus 
their  bishop,  the  light  became  extinguished  in  darkness,  and 
his  joy  was  turned  into  sorrow.  So  great  is  the  power  of 
prejudice  ;  but  the  truth  is  evident  to  any  one  wishing  to  see 
it.    Dissert.  2,  opus.  18. 


60  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

And  why  does  this  happen  ?  Because  his  con- 
science condemns  all  his  actions,  and  condemns 
them  because  they  are  poisoned  by  that  radical 
vice,  incontinence.  Thus  the  sacred  ministry  is 
not  only  rendered  useless,  but  the  priest,  going  on 
by  degTees  to  discredit  and  render  suspected  the 
morality  he  teaches,  augments  the  number  of 
transgressors. 

Certain  oft-repeated  objections  are  commonly 
opposed  to  these  arguments  :  1 .  That  it  is  not 
incontinence  which  renders  a  priest  vicious.  2. 
That  if  the  transgression  of  a  law  was  a  sufficient 
reason  for  its  revocation,  then  no  law,  however 
just,  could  be  preserved.  Miserable  objections 
these,  because  1.  We  have  already  shown  that 
although  ecclesiastics  are  subject  to  many  vices, 
nevertheless  the  one  in  question  is  their  easily 
besetting  sin,  and  has  a  necessary  tendency  ta 
demoralize  both  priest  and  people.  2.  Because  it 
is  an  incontestible  truth,  that  when  a  law,  instead 
of  promoting  its  contemplated  object,  on  the  con- 
trary goes  to  defeat  that  object,  it  is  for  that  reason 
unfounded  and  unworthy  to  continue  in  force. 

Now,  this  truth  is  applicable  to  the  law  of  celib- 
acy and  others  like  it,  but  not  to  those  necessary 
laws  which  have  for  their  sole  object  the  protection 
of  the  natural  rights  of  men. 

Independent  of  any  legislation,  robbery,  murder, 
calumny,  and  treason,  will  always  be  wrong ; 
hence  the  legislator  should  never  cease  to  impose 
penalties  upon  such  delinquencies.  They  are 
always  evil ;  there  is  no  case  in  which  they  can 
be  tolerated.  This  is  not  the  case  with  marriage, 
which  is  only  wrong  because  the  law  makes  it  so,, 


THE    LAW    IS    USELESS.  61 

and  since  this  law,  very  far  from  conducting  priests 
to  perfection,  on  the  contrary  leads  the  greater 
part  of  them  to  perdition,  policy  and  justice  require 
the  legislator  to  revoke  it. 

We  grant  that  the  priest  may  be  a  wicked  man  ; 
he  may  trample  upon  the  most  sacred  laws  because 
he  is  a  man  ;  although  married,  he  may  be  an  adul- 
terer or  a  debauchee  ;  but  in  either  of  these  cases 
let  him  be  corrected  with  all  the  severity  of  law, 
and  if  incorrigible,  dismissed  from  his  high  voca- 
tion. But  if  his  difficulty,  the  origin  of  his 
misfortune,  is  a  propensity  to  incontinence,  the 
only  remedy  is  matrimony.  That  remedy  is  prop- 
er ;  it  may  not  be  infallible.* 

But  let  us  suppose  that  the  law  requiring  celib- 
acy is  just,  and  not  calculated  to  occasion  immo- 
rality, still  it  is  useless,  as  we  now  proceed  to  show. 

§4.  THE    LAW     REQUIRING    CELIBACY    IS    USELESS. 

No  person  in  the  general,  being  obliged  to  mar- 
ry, celibacy  on  the  other  hand  being  in  all  respects 
a  less  expensive  state  of  life,  we  everywhere  find, 
and  at  all  times,  a  great  number  attached  to  it,  of 
both  sexes,  and  especially  among  Catholics,  many 
living  chastely,  independent  of  law  requiring  them 
to  do  so. 

The  calculation  of  advantages  of  a  temporal 
kind  to  some,  and  spiritual  to  others,  is  the  com- 
pass which  guides  their  choice  in  embracing  this 
state,  and  although  not  prohibited  from  contracting 
matrimony  they  remain  single  until  new  views  of 
temporal  or  spiritual  happiness  incline  them  to  a 
different  choice.  All  know  the  difficulty  a  man 
*  1  Ep.  ad  Cor.  cap.  7,  v.  2. 


62  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

will  have  in  contenting  himself  in  a  state  which 
seems  contrary  to  his  nature,  and  hence  is  forced 
upon  him. 

Now  if  these  things  are  so,  what  is  the  advan- 
tage of  the  law  of  celibacy  ?  Nothing  whatever. 
Those  who  are  continent  with  the  law  would  be 
without  it,  or  more  correctly  speaking,  the  number 
of  continent  persons  would  be  greater  in  absence 
of  the  law.  If  indeed  it  be  credible  that  a  single 
individual  remains  in  absolute  continence  in  virtue 
of  the  law,  who  would  not  without  it,  it  may  also 
be  affirmed  that  he  who  is  thus  made  to  strive 
with  nature  and  to  endeavor  to  overcome  his  in- 
clination (because  in  the  supposition,  he  is  inclined 
to  matrimony)  loses  the  best  moments  of  his  life 
in  a  combat  where  no  victory  is  to  be  gained  ; 
moments  which  otherwise  would  be  employed  in 
the  discharge  of  important  duties  which  nature 
and  religion  enjoin.  For  the  merit  of  continence 
does  not  consist  in  the  privation  of  enjoyment,  but 
in  an  appropriate  disposition,  which  through  it  is 
acquired,  in  view  of  more  important  ends.  Thus 
teaches  St.  Paul.* 

Now,  since  the  legislator  ought  not  to  circum- 
scribe or  restrain  uselessly  the  liberty  of  subjects, 
it  is  evident  that  thwjaw  ought  to  be  abolished 
from  the  very  fact  that  it  is  useless. 

§5.     ITS    ABROGATION    IS    THE    DESIRE    OF    PRU- 
DENT   MEN. 

The  necessity  of  revoking  a  law  enjoining  a 
forced  celibacy,  has  been  seen  by  many  enlight- 
ened minds,  and   ardently  desired   by  good  men, 

*  1  Ep.  ad  Corinth,  c.  7,  v.  32. 


ITS    ABROGATION    DESIRED.  63 

who  could  not  look  with  indifference  upon  the 
misfortunes  of  their  fellow-beings.  It  has  also 
been  urgently  insisted  upon  by  monarchs,  who, 
ignorant  of  their  rights  or  slaves  of  the  supersti- 
tion of  their  times,  have  had  recourse  to  an  au- 
thority which  then  had  the  power  to  impose  and 
revoke  at  will  any  impediment  to  matrimony. 

In  the  general  Council  of  Constance,  the  Em- 
peror Sigismund  earnestly  besought  that  clerical 
celibacy  might  be  abolished. 

At  the  Councils  of  Pisa  and  Basil,  similar 
solicitations  were  made,  but  were  neutralized  by 
political  considerations.* 

At  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  almost  unanimous 
desire  of  Catholic  princes  was  expressed  in  favor 
of  the  same  object. 

The  Duke  of  Bavaria,  on  that  occasion,  demon- 
strated the  necessity  of  the  measure  with  an  ad- 
mirable energy,  explaining  the  political  and  moral 
reasons  on  which  it  was  founded.  Beside  other 
things,  he  remarked  as  follows :  "  That  among  50 
priests  there  would  scarcely  be  found  one  who 
did  not  live  in  a  state  of  notorious  concubinage. 
That  not  only  priests  but  laymen  required  the  abo- 
lition of  the  law,  and  also  patrons  of  churches, 
who  had  become  unwilling  to  grant  benefices  ex- 
cept to  married  men.  That  it  was  better  to  abro- 
gate the  law  than  to  open  the  door  to  an  impure 
celibacy.  That  it  was  an  absurdity  to  refuse 
married  men  an  entrance  into  orders,  and  yet  to 
tolerate  those  who  lived  in  fornication.  That,  in 
fine,  if  it  was  determined  to  bind  priests  to  abso- 

*  Lanfani.  Hist,  de  Cone,  de  Base. 


64  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

lute  continence,  they  must  only  ordain  old  men."* 
Such  was  more  or  less  the  language  of  other 
Catholic  princes. 

Cardinal  Zaburela  in  the  Council  of  Constance, 
the  Bishop  of  Salsburgh  and  others  in  their  syn- 
ods, Cardinal  Lorena  at  Trent,  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Granada,  whose  discourse  is  said  to  be  still 
preserved  in  the  Jesuits  library  of  that  city,  made 
great  efforts  toward  revoking  the  regulation,  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Praga  and  the  Bishop  of  the 
five  churches  determined  to  oppose  the  vote  taken, 
but  were  dissuaded. f 

Pius  II.,  before  his  elevation  to  the  papal  chair 
regarded  the  prohibition  of  matrimony  to  priests 
as  the  fruitful  source  of  condemnation  to  great 
numbers  who  otherwise  would  be  saved  in  the 
use  of  lawful  marriage. J 

Polidorus  Virgilius  maintained  that  there  was 
no  institution  which  had  done  more  to  bring  dis- 
grace upon  the    ecclesiastical  office,  which  had 

*  Fleury  Hist.  Eccl. 

t  Fleury — Hernando  de  Avila — Curayer — Vargas  and  others. 

Although  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  well  under- 
stood that  celibacy  as  a  matter  of  discipline  might  be  dispen- 
sed with,  as  Pius  V.  said  in  his  interview  with  Amulius  the 
embassador  of  Venice,  yet  they  thought  it  most  prudent  not 
to  take  that  step  at  a  time  when  heretics  renounced  vows  of 
celibacy  as  unworthy  of  God  and  opposed  to  nature,  which 
we  do  not  assert,  when  such  vows  are  voluntary.  Experi- 
ence, however,  has  shown  hoAV  much  more  prudent  it  would 
be  to  shut  the  mouths  of  heretics  and  libertines  by  granting 
priests  at  once  the  only  remedy  to  incontinence,  and  providing 
for  their  happiness  in  a  natural  and  decisive  manner  !  It  is 
probable  that  a  council  in  the  19th  century  would  act  very 
differently,  being  removed  from  the  contentions  which  pre- 
vailed at  that  period,  and  having  before  their  eyes  the  unal- 
tered picture  of  the  frailty  of  their  priests. 

I  AnnallO..  L.  11. 


ITS    ABROGATION     DESIRED.  65 

caused  greater  evils  to  religion  or  greater  grief  to 
good  men.* 

Having  now  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  abol- 
ishing celibacy  as  a  requisite  to  clerical  orders,  so 
that  a  priest  may  lawfully  marry,  it  still  remains 
to  satisfy  the  fearful  consciences  of  those  persons 
who  without  reflecting  themselves,  and  sustained 
only  by  the  prejudice  and  false  doctrine  of  others, 
who  seize  upon  their  credulity  to  alarm  their  fears 
and  prejudice  them  against  the  truth,  think  that 
the  celibacy  of  priests  is  an  order  of  heaven  and 
that  no  human  power  has  a  right  to  revoke  it. 

I  shall  therefore  prove  from  the  history  of  the 
church  and  the  authority  of  credited  authors,  that 
clerical  celibacy  is  neither  a  divine  nor  apostolic 
institution  ;  that  it  originated  about  the  commence- 
ment of  the  4th  century  ;  that  it  did  not  become 
a  regulation  of  discipline  in  the  western  church 
until  after  the  1 2th  century,  and  that  the  eastern 
church  up  to  the  present  has  permitted  her  minis- 
ters to  marry  without  the  Latin  church  ever  daring 
to  censure  the  practice,  while,  on  the  contrary, 
the  latter  has  even  authorised  and  permitted  it 
to  those  who  in  modern  times  have  become  incor- 
porated with  her. 

*  Detrer.  invent.,  L.  5.,  c.4.  I  know  that  many  good  men 
have  defended  the  celibate,  but  after  all,  they  can  prove  nothing 
but  the  excellence  of  chastity  and  the  antiquity  of  the  law 
we  are  discussing,  which  are  granted  at  once.  They,  how- 
ever, are  very  cautious  about  saying  a  word  upon  the  good 
and  evil  which  have  constantly  resulted  from  the  law  which 
has  always  been  in  disuse  as  impracticable.  This  is  our 
task.  We  are  showing  the  real  origin  of  the  institution,  and 
its  consequences,  but  we  do  not  deny  that  he  who  has  the 
gift  of  continence  may  be  more  happy  than  the  married  man, 
St.  Paul  teaches  this,  experience  sustains  it,  and  that  is 
sufficient. 

6* 


66  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

§6.     CLERICAL    CELIBACY    IS    NOT    A    DIVINE    IN- 
STITUTION. 

If  Ave  look  at  the  gospel,  not  a  word  is  found 
from  which  it  can  be  inferred,  I  do  not  say  clearly, 
but  even  with  the  most  forced  construction,  that 
Christ  enjoined  celibacy  upon  his  ministers,  or 
even  recommended  it  to  them.  The  only  text 
on  which  such  a  construction  is  attempted,  is  this  : 
"  If  any  man  come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father 
and  mother,  and  wife  and  children,  and  brethren 
and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  can  not 
be  my  disciple."* 

I  need  not  tire  the  reader  with  the  refutation  of 
any  attempt  to  found  the  precept  of  celibacy  on 
this  passage.  Every  Christian  knows  how  much 
he  ought  to  respect  and  love  both  father  and 
mother,  and  yet  God  approves  that  both  be  forsa- 
ken that  he  may  cleave  to  his  wife ;  and  that 
Christ  by  those  words  designed  to  teach  nothing 
more  than  the  necessity  of  being  resolved  to  for- 
sake things  even  the  most  dear,  when  they  shall 
become  an  obstacle  to  salvation. 

Nor  is  it  the  Christian  merely  who  ought  to 
profess  these  principles.  The  good  citizen  ought 
not  to  hesitate  in  abandoning  these  relatives,  or 
even  life  itself,  when  his  country  demands  such  a 
sacrifice.  This  is  very  evident.  The  contrary 
would  be  absurd  and  even  impious,  and  a  resort 
to  such  texts  for  such  a  cause,  is  the  greatest 
proof  of  its  unreasonableness. 

The  gospel  speaks  a  thousand  times  of  virgins, 
but  never  advises  one  to  perpetuate  her  celibacy. 
*  St.  Luc,  cap.  14,  V.  26. 


NOT    AN    APOSTOLIC    INSTITUTIdST.  67 

When  Christ  remarked  that  many  become 
eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake,  he  was 
evidently  replying  to  his  disciples,  who  thought 
the  condition  of  that  man  hard  who  was  separated 
from  his  wife,  an  adultress,  without  power  to 
marry  again  ;  and  designed  to  show  that  there  are 
many  circumstances  in  which  man  is  required  to 
deny  himself  for  the  sake  of  gaining  heaven. 

But  we  leave  this  topic.  The  church  has  de- 
cided, founding  her  position  on  the  doctrines  of 
St.  Paul ;  and  the  practice  of  the  early  Christians 
also  indicates  that  celibacy  is  a  more  perfect  state, 
and  hence  preferable  to  matrimony,  as  giving  the 
individual  more  liberty  to  apply  himself  to  the 
things  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

But  because  celibacy  is  a  more  perfect  state,  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  is  necessary  and  indispen- 
sable to  the  priest.  Poverty  is  also  a  state  very 
highly  commended  in  the  gospel,  but  was  it  en- 
joined absolutely  on  clergymen  ?  Why  is  this 
left  open  to  choice  or  circumstance,  and  not  the 
former  ?  One  thing  is  certain,  neither  one  nor  the 
other  were  insisted  on  by  Christ  himself  as  es- 
sential to  his  ministers. 

§7.    CLERICAL    CELIBACY    IS    NOT    AN    APOSTOLIC 

INSTITUTION. 

St.  Paul,  the  only  one  of  the  apostles  who  treats 
ex  professo,  upon  the  character  required  in  deacons, 
presbyters,  or  bishops,  says  :  "  A  bishop  must  be 
blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife,  vigilant,  so- 
ber, of  good  behavior,"*  &c. ;  and  when  he  rec- 
ommends Timothy  to  "  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no 
*  1  Ep.  a  Tjmoth.  cap.  3,  v.  2. 


68  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

man,  neither  be  a  partaker  of  other  men's  sins," 
he  concludes  by  saying,  "  keep  thyself  pure." 

From  these  and  other  passages,  we  may  learn, 
since  St.  Paul  recommends  that  the  bishop  and 
deacon  be  the  husband  of  one  wife,*  that  the  con- 
tinence and  chastity  required  of  them  is  consistent 
with  matrimony  ;  since  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
improprieties  often  exist  in  connexion  with  that 
state,  and  that  excesses  occur  reproved  by  reason 
and  condemned  by  revelation. 

St.  Paul  indeed  teaches  this  in  his  first  letter  to 
the  Corinthians,  and  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
describes  what  continence  is  among  the  married. f 
Pafnucius  very  plainly  says  that  the  conjugal  act 
is  chastity. J  St.  Augustine,  St.  Ambrose,  St. 
John  Chrysostom,  and  others,  prove  that  chastity 
may  be  preserved  in  matrimony,  and  this  is  the 
language  of  the  church  herself.  11 

Such  also  were  the  sentiments  of  Christian  an- 
tiquity ;  for  although  numberless  canons  were  de- 
creed, prohibiting  marriage  to  priests,  founded  on 
other  reasons,  yet  never  was  any  mention  made 
of  the  precepts  of  St.  Paul,  of  which,  had  they 

*  It  is  generally  known  that  among  the  Jews  polygamy  was 
permitted,  and  concubinage  was  tolerated  among  the  Pvonians, 
and  that  among  both  it  was  permitted  to  divorce  wives  and 
marry  others,  while  the  first  were  yet  living.  It  was  doubt- 
less with  reference  to  these  facts  that  St.  Paul  requires  the 
minister  to  be  the  husband  nf  one  wife. 

t  Eum  qui  uxorem  ducit,  pro  libcrorum  procatione  exercere 
oportet  continentiam,  ut  ne  suamquidem,  concupiscat  uxorem, 
quam  debet  diligere,  honestate  et  moderate  voluntato  operam 
dans  liberis,  &c.    Str.  3. 

I  Congressum  viri  cum  uxore  legitima  castitatom  esse  ad- 
serens,  &c.     Selvagio,  Lib.  1 ,  Paf. 

II  Homil.  26  in  Math.  Sicut  crudelis  et  iniquus  est,  qui  cas- 
tam  dimittit  uxorem,  Uc-     Liv  de  bon.  conj. 


ITS    HISTORY.  69 

existed,  those  legislators  who  were  so  zealous  to 
enjoin  clerical  celibacy  as  an  apostolic  institution, 
would  have  gladly  availed  themselves.* 

Having  now  demonstrated  that  neither  Christ 
nor  his  apostles  established  this  institution,  nor  in- 
deed advised  Christian  ministers  invariably  to  fol- 
low such  a  state  of  life,  I  pass  to  consider  its  ac- 
tual origin  and  progress.! 

^8.  HISTORY  OF  CLERICAL  CELIBACY. 

Documents  are  rare  respecting  this  subject, 
until  subsequent  to  the  third  century.  This,  how- 
ever, ought  to  be  declared,  that  while  no  labor  has 
been  spared  to  discover  all  that  existed,  the  only 
ones  that  appear,  are  in  favor  of  the  liberty  then 
enjoyed  by  ministers,  of  marrying  and  living  as 
husbands  with  their  wives. 

St.  Ignatius,  a  disciple  of  the  apostles,  rebukes 
and  even  threatens  with  condemnation  him  who 
by  a  profession  of  chastity  should  think  himself 
greater  than  a  bishop.J  From  this  passage  it  is 
naturally  inferred  that  such  presumption  on  the 
part  of  the  bachelor  was  founded  on  the  idea  that 
on  account  of  professing  a  state  of  perfection  he 
thought  himself  for  that  reason  superior  even  to  a 

*  A  council  held  at  Rome  by  Gregory  VII.,  1074,  was  the 
first  which  ever  assumed  to  explain  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in 
the  sense  in  which  they  are  now  held  by  our  opponents. 

t  This  is  according  to  the  explanation  of  the  very  authors 
who  defend  the  celibate.  Perpetua  lex  continentiae  nee  a 
Christo  nee  ab  apostolis  sacris  ministris  imposita  fuit.  Natal. 
Alexan.     Prop.  3.     Diss,  ad  4  cent. 

Nullo  autem  jure  Divino,  nee  naturali  nee  positive  earn  cler- 
icis  praeceptam  esse  satis  certum  est.     Riger  Tom  3,  Tit.  3. 

t  Si  gloriatur,  periit.  Etsi  se  maioram  Episcopo  censet,  in- 
teriet.     Ad.  Poly.  No.  5. 


70  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

bishop,  who  led  an  ordinary  life  ;  which  is  to  say, 
that  of  a  married  man. 

St.  Clement,  of'  Alexandria,  that  father  who 
was  acquainted  with  the  immediate  disciples  of 
the  apostles  ;  that  celebrated  individual  who,  on 
account  of  his  erudition  both  sacred  and  profane, 
was  selected  to  preside  over  the  most  distinguished 
religious  school  then  in  existence,  is  decided  on 
this  subject. 

His  authority  is  much  greater  on  this  subject 
since  he  treats  of  it  ex  professo.  He  had  two 
sorts  of  adversaries  to  contend  with  ;  some  who 
detested  matrimony  and  others  who  held  all  sorts 
of  debauchery  to  be  lawful.  When  he  contended 
with  the  latter,  who  pretended  to  find  authority  in 
some  misinterpreted  expression  of  St.  Nicolas, 
one  of  the  seven  deacons  in  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles, he  asserted  that  Nicolas  had  nothing  to  do 
with  any  other  female  than  his  own  wife,  to  whom  he 
was  married.  This  proves  the  use  of  matrimony 
among  priests,  and  by  whom  ?  By  St.  Nicolas 
himself. 

When  he  combated  the  enemies  of  matrimony, 
who  alleged  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
never  married,  he  replied,  that  the  Savior  had  no 
need  of  a  helpmate,  that  it  was  not  his  object 
during  his  sojourn  on  earth  to  train  up  children, 
but  that  the  church  was  his  bride. 

He  attacked  his  adversaries  with  the  example 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Philip,  who  had  wives  and 
children.  No  one  will  attribute  to  Clement  of 
Alexandria  the  unskilfulness  and  absurdity  of 
attempting  to  confute  heretics  with  facts  relating 
to  those  individuals,  while  yet  Pagans  or  mere 


ITS    HISTORY.  71 

Jews ;  hence  we  must  suppose  him  acquainted 
with  the  fact  that  those  apostles  had  children  after 
their  call  to  the  apostolic  office.*  This  is  by  no 
means  improbable,  since,  from  the  gospel  itself  we 
learn  that  the  disciples  frequently  absented  them- 
selves from  the  company  of  their  divine  master, 
and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  this  time  was 
spent  in  their  several  families. 

He  also  confounds  the  heretics  with  the  doctrine 
of  St.  Paul,  who  admits  married  men  even  to  the 
episcopacy,  in  case  they  properly  conduct  them- 
selves in  conjugal  life,  and  adds  still  more,  that  in 
the  procreation  of  children  they  will  be  saved. f 
W.hoeA^er  gives  credence  to  this  most  worthy 
authority,  will  necessarily  be  convinced  that  up  to 
his  time  no  such  prohibition  existed,  but  on  the 
contrary,  that  Christian  ministers  enjoyed  full 
liberty  to  marry  or  not.     This  he  plainly  asserts. 

This  father,  in  his  other  works,  the  Pedagogue, 
and  the  True  Gnostic,  proposes  maxims  of  the 
purest  virtue,  and  those  which  still  remain  like  a 
fountain  of  pure  morality  ;  hence  he  can  in  no 
way  be  suspected  of  laxity  of  views. 

Tertulian,  who  went  to  such  an  excess  as  to 
condemn  first  marriages,  as  embracing  the  elements 
of  fornication,  and  even  presumes  to  censure 
St.  Paul  for  permitting  second  marriages,  even  then 
did  not  make  use  of  the  great  argument  against 
the  marriage  of  priests.  It  can  hardly  be  possible 
that  he  would  have  abandoned  that  strong  support 
to  his  paradox  if  such  a  practice  had  been  in 
existence. 

"*  Stromat.  3. 

t  Ibidem.  Servabitur  autem  per  filioriim  procrationem. 
Scd  unusquisque  nostrum  habet,  si  velit,  potestatem  ducendi 
iegiliuuiiii  uxorem  in  primis,  inquam,  nuptiis. 


72  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

When  lie  exhorted  the  people  to  chastity,  he 
reminded  them  that  there  were  many  examples 
of  it  among  the  clergy.*  This  implies,  of  course, 
that  marriage  was  common  among  them.  Ori- 
gen,  who  carried  continence  to  the  extreme  of 
literally  making  himself  a  eunuch,  scarcely  distin- 
guishing between  the  sacrifices  of  the  old  and  new 
law,  gives  his  opinion,  that  "  if  in  the  former, 
priests  ought  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  matrimony 
when  they  were  about  to  sacrifice,  that  in  the  lat- 
ter also,  he  who  would,  in  an  acceptable  manner, 
offer  sacrifices,  should  dedicate  himself  to  per- 
petual chastity."  This  was  merely  his  opinion — ■ 
videtur  mihi.  He  moreover  confesses  that  he 
"  knows  not  how  to  explain  the  reason  why  the 
church  admits  the  husband  of  one  wife  to  be  a 
bishop,  when,  perhaps,  he  may  lead  a  less  conti- 
nent life  than  the  husband  of  two."  f 

Thus  much  Ave  learn  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived.  From  the  institution  of  Christianity  celib- 
acy was  held  in  high  repute,  and  great  numbers 
devoted  themselves  to  it.  Athenagorus,  St.  Justin, 
Minucius,  Felix,  and  others,  state  this  distinctly. 
Ministers  chosen  from  among  the  heads  of  fami- 
lies, as  St.  Paul  recommended  ;  men  of  age,  as 
the  name  presbyter  signifies,  gave  the  edifying 
example  of  every  species  of  virtue.  When,  how- 
ever, a  man  who  had  vowed  chastity  for  the  sake 
of  spiritual  profit,  entered  the  ministry  and  then 
married,  such  a  step  would  be  looked  upon  with  a 
natural  surprise,  very  similar  to  what  occurs 
among  us  when  a  young  lady  leaves  a  recolhimentoX 

*  Lib.  de  Exort.  Cast.  cap.  5  et  13. 

t  Rom.  23  in  Num.    Certum  est,  quae  impeditur  &c. 

X  A  species  of  mumery,   where  females    are  educated, 


ITS    HISTORY.  73 

in  order  to  marry,  or  when  a  devout  monk  secular- 
izes himself;  but  since  they  merely  descend  from 
a  certain  degree  of  perfection  to  the  ordinary  state 
of  life,  they  commit  no  crime  although  the  step 
they  take  is  calculated  to  produce  astonishment, 
and  perhaps  abhorrence,  in  society.  This,  we 
may  conjecture,  began  to  take  place  toward  the 
end  of  the  third  century. 

The  first  fact  which  history  records  relative  to 
the  law  of  celibacy,  relates  to  Pinitus,  bishop  of 
Gnosa,  who  in  A.  D.  171  contemplated  enforcing 
it ;  but  St.  Dyonisius,  bishop  of  Corinth,  that  wise 
and  zealous  prelate,  who  watched  over  neighboring 
dioceses  as  well  as  his  own,  wrote  to  him,  exhorting 
him  not  to  impose  a  heavy  burden  on  his  brethren, 
but  to  have  regard  to  the  common  weakness  of  men* 

The  year  300  is  the  first  in  which  a  council 
forbade  the  use  of  matrimony  to  married  priests. f 
In  315,  the  Council  of  Neocesarea,  in  the  first 
canon,  determined  the  deposition  of  the  minister 
who  should  marry;  and  in  canon  eight,  orders  him 
to  be  suspended  who  should  have  intercourse  with 
his  own  wife,  as  though  she  were  an  adulteress. 

In  319,  by  the  Council  of  Ancyra,  it  was  still 
granted  to  deacons  to  marry  after  their  ordination, 
if  in  the  act  of  ordination  they  protested  that  they 
so  desired. 

In  A.  D.  325  the  first  general  council  was  held 
at  Nice.  Some  one  was  present  to  whom  it 
occurred  to  bring  into  force  the  law  of  celibacy, 

with  the  privilege  of  leaving  when  they  or  their  friends 
desire  ;  and  where  the  veil  is  not  taken,  although  some  remaia 
for  hfe.— [Trans. 

*  Euseh.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib. 4,  cap.  23. 

t  Cone,  de  Elvira,  c.  33.    Piacuit  in  totum,  &c. 
7 


74:  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

but  the  advice  of  Pafimcius  was  followed.  That 
holy  prelate,  among  other  things,  remarked — that 
the  council  ought  to  be  content  with  the  ancient 
custom  of  those  priests  remaining  single  who  were 
ordained  in  that  state.*  That  council  consequently 
left  things  as  it  found  them  ;  that  is,  they  suffered 
each  individual  to  be  governed  by  his  own  choice. 
Writers  of  this  century,  notwithstanding  they 
appear  to  be  considerably  influenced  by  the  spirit 
of  celibacy,  yet  confess  that  there  was  either  no 
law  enjoining  it,  or  that,  at  least,  it  was  not  general 
in  the  church. 

St.  Athanasius,  in  his-  letter  to  Draconcius,  ob- 
served, that  there  were  many  bishops  single,  and 
many  monks  who  had  children ;  whence  it  is  inferred 
that  in  either  state  persons  would  consult  their 
inclinations.     This  proves  liberty,  not  law. 

St.  Bazil,  at  the  end  of  the  same  century,  ob- 
serves respecting  professed  continence,  that  it  was 
not  then  common,  except  among  monks,  who  ap- 
peared to  have  tacitly  embraced  it. 

Eusebius  says  that  the  gospel  does  not  prohibit 
matrimony,  and  that  what  St.  Paul  desired  was,  that 
a  bishop  should  only  have  married  once,  after  the 
example  of  Noe,  &c.  He  adds  that  it  is  proper, 
nevertheless,  for  those  who  are  elevated  to  the 
priesthood  to  abstain  from  familiarity  with  their 
wives.  This  is  merely  his  opinion — decet — he 
refers  to  no  law.f 

Socrates,  contemporary  to  many  of  the  fathers 
present  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  relates  that  in  his 
time  there  was  no  general  law  requiring  celibacy^ 

*  Choasi.  Hist.  Eccl.  4  cent, 
t  Demonatr.  lib.  1 ,  cap.  9. 


ITS    HISTORY.  75 

although  it  was  common  through  choice.  He 
mentions  several  places  where  the  bishops  still 
had  children.* 

St.  Jerome  himself,  who  went  to  the  extreme  of 
monastic  austerity,  both  in  sentiment  and  practice, 
who  sometimes  needs  to  be  defended  from  the 
imputation  of  having  condemned  matrimony,  even 
he,  when  contending  with  Vigilancius,  who  denied 
the  merit  of  continence,  only  ifiade  mention  of  the 
example  or  custom  of  the  churches  of  Antioch, 
Egypt,  and  Rome,  which  selected  for  their  minis- 
ters either  single  men,  or  those  married  men  wlio 
abandoned  conjugal  life.  This  proves  that  other 
churches  had  a  different  discipline. f 

The  council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  348,  very  far 
from  establishing  the  precept  of  celibacy,  merely 
commands  those  ministers  who  do  not  wish  to 
marry,  but  who  prefer  the  perfection  of  continence, 
to  avoid  residing  in  company  with  females  not  of 
their  kindred,  as  the  General  Council  of  Nice  had 
already  determined.J 

St.  Ambrose  simply  says,  "  that  when  married 
men  were  admitted  to  the  sacred  ministry,  it  was 
hoped  they  would  withdraw  themselves  from  their 
wives  ;"  and  referring  to  single  men,  he  confesses 
that  they  were  not  obliged  to  be  ordained  sucli.^ 
St.  Cyril  had  previously  remarked,  that  those  icho 
desired  to  fulfil  worthily,  that  is,  in  the  most  per- 
fect manner,  their  ministry,  lived  in  celibacy. \  To 
this  we  cheerfully  assent,  on  condition,  however, 
that  the  celibacy  be  chaste  and  real, 

*  Lfb.  5,  cap.  22.  Hist.  Eccl. 

t  Jerom.  adv.  Vig.        %  Canon  3. 

§  Non  quo  exsortem  excludat  conjugis,  non  hoc  supra  legem 
praecepti  est,  sed  ut  conjugali  castimonia  ferret  ablutionis 
suae  gratiam.  H  Catechis.  12. 


76  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

It  appears  that  in  some  places  men  carried  con- 
tinence to  such  an  excess  as  to  abandon  even  their 
own  wives,  interpreting  the  scriptures  literally,  or 
rather  materially,  as  was  done  afterward,  which 
circumstance  gave  rise  to  the  sixth  apostolic 
canon,  by  which  deposition  and  excommunication 
are  denounced  against  him  who  should  abandon  his 
wife  under  the  pretext  of  religion,  and  to  the  fifty- 
first  canon,  v/hich*  commands  that  priest  to  be 
deposed  who  shall  abstain  from  matrimony^  not 
through  a  spirit  of  mortification,  but  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  wicked* 

Granting  to  critics  that  the  apostolic  canons,  as 
well  as  the  apostolic  constitutions,  are  a  compen- 
dium of  the  discipline  most  common  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  ;  yet  it  is  important  to  observe 
the  manner  in  which  the  twenty-seventh  canon 
and  the  17th  chapter  of  the  sixth  book  are  ex- 
pressed. From  those  parts,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
prohibition  of  matrimony  to  priests  was  a  new 
law,  and  not  the  repetition  of  an  old  one.j 

Variety  of  discipline  on  this  point  could  scarcely 
be  greater.     In  one  part  priests  were  married  ;  in 

*  A  thousand  contortions  have  been  applied  to  these  canons, 
in  order  to  wrest  from  them  their  force  ;  but  a  comparison  of 
them  with  the  apostolic  constitutions  and  the  Council  of  Trullo, 
will  show  that  we  haA^e  given  their  true  meaning.  Can.  6. 
Episcopus  aut  Presbyter  uxorem  propriam  nequaquam  sub 
obtenter  religionis  abjiciat,  &c.     Vide  etiam  can.  51. 

t  Can.  27.  Innuptis  autem,  qui  ad  Clerum  provecti  sunt 
pragcipimus,  ut,  si  voluerint  uxores  accipiant,  sed  Lectores 
Caiitoresque  tantumodo. 

Const,  ap.  Lib.  6,  cap.  17.  In  Episc.  a  Diac.  constitui  prae- 
cipimus  viros  unius  matrimonii,  sive  vivant  eorum  uxores  sive 
obierint :  nnn  licere  autem  illis  post  ordinationem,  si  uxores 
non  habent,  matrimonium  contrahere  ;  aut  si  uxores  habeant, 
cum  aliis  copulari  sed  contentos  esse  ea,  quam  habentes,  ad 
ordinationem  venenuit. 


ITS    HISTORY.  77 

another,  only  deacons  ;  and  in  a  third,  only  readers 
and  singers.  In  some  places,  married  men  were 
prohibited  the  conjugal  life  ;  and  in  others,  those 
who  abandoned  their  wives  were  punished.  Yet 
the  number  of  nuns  and  monks,  on  the  whole, 
increasing,  and  the  greater  proportion  of  bishops 
being  selected  from  among  the  latter,  or  at  least 
from  among  those  who  professed  an  ascetic  life,  it 
was  natural  that  the  people  should,  by  degrees, 
begin  to  look  with  indifference  upon  married  priests, 
as  though  they  led  a  life  of  inferior  sanctity  to  that 
of  those  who  professed  the  perfection  of  conti- 
nence.* This  disposition  being  fostered,  until  it 
grew  into  a  species  of  contempt  for  those  who  did 
not  exhibit  that  show  of  perfection,  many  were  at 
length  found  who  were  unwilling  to  witness  the 
celebration  of  mass  by  married  priests.  Some 
even  affirmed  that  the  wives  of  priests  could  not 
be  saved. t 

The  professors  of  continence  insulted  their 
brethren  who  were  married,  so  that  the  Council  of 
Gangres,  in  380,  had  occasion  to  anathematize 
them,  and  declare  that  although  it  did  not  disap- 
prove of  continence,  it  condemned  the  arrogance 
of  those  who,  under  pretext  of  it,  exalted  them- 
selves above  others  who  adopted  a  simple  and 
common  mode  of  life.| 

*  Such  is  the  power  of  prejudice,  that  even  among  us  a  large 
proportion  of  the  common  people  would  have  less  averson  Xo 
hear  mass  and  receive  the  sacraments  from  a  priest  living^ 
notorious  concubinage,  than  from  one  who  was  married,  but 
led  an  acknowledgedly  virtuous  life.  So  greatly  does'  the 
pretence  of  perfection  impose  upon  the  ignorant.  We  ought, 
however,  to  desire  truth  and  not  imposture. 

f  Cone  de  Gang.  can.  4.  Can.  1,  seg.  Grat.  Dist.  30,  can.  12 
S.  Greg.  Nan.  Orat.  40,  S.  Joh.  Chrysos.  Ep.  ad  Tit. 

J  Canon  21. 

7* 


78  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

It  was  the  Latin  church  that  insisted  most  upon 
the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  but  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  observe  to  what  extent  the  law 
was  despised  and  even  forgotten,  in  its  very  origin, 
and  at  the  places  where  it  was  decreed.  In  390 
the  Council  of  Carthage  established  it  again,  as 
though  it  were  new.* 

The  Council  of  Toledo,  assembled  from  all 
Spain  in  400,  did  not  then  presume  to  chastise  those 
clergymen  who  were  married  previous  to  the  pre- 
ceding council,  but  contented  itself  with  deter- 
mining that  they  should  not  be  promoted  to  the 
higher  orders.  The  same  determination  is  met 
with  in  the  Council  of  Turin,  composed  of  the 
bishops  of  Gaul  and  Italy. 

In  402,  a  council  at  Rome  obliged  (can.  3) 
priests  and  deacons  to  remain  in  celibacy,  giving 
no  other  reason  than  that  they  were  required  to 
offer  sacrifice  and  to  baptize  ;  not  basing  the  regu- 
lation upon  anterior  laws,  but  upon  the  example  of 
priests  in  the  Levitical  law. 

In  the  Council  of  Telipta,  418,  canon  4,  celibacy 
was  ordained  for  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  as 
though  for  the  first  time,  and  without  any  penalty 
for  disobedience. 

That  of  Orange,  441,  canon  22,  revoked  the 
regulation  of  the  Council  of  Ancyra,  which  obliged 
deacons  to  vow  chastity  at  their  ordination,  and  in 
canon  4,  determined  that  those  hitherto  ordained 
might  be  promoted  to  the  superior  orders,  notwith- 
standing their  conjugal  life. 

The  Council  of  Tyre  in  461,  canon  1,  exhorted 
priests  to  a  life  of  continence,  that  they  miglit 
'  Can.  2. 


ITS    HISTORY.  79 

better  apply  themselves  to  prayer,  &c.,  but  mod- 
erated the  rigor  of  previous  canons. 

That  of  Agda,  506,  in  the  first  and  second  can- 
ons, orders  merely  to  suspend,  without  deposition, 
those  priests  who  were  married  for  the  second 
time,  or  married  to  widows.  That  of  Gerona,  517, 
canons  6  and  7,  orders  that  the  bishop,  priest, 
deacon,  and  sub-deacon,  who  may  be  married,  to  live 
apart  from  their  wives,  or  that  they  have  in  their 
company  a  clerical  friend,  as  witness  of  their  con- 
tinence. This  is  manifestly  contradictory  to  the 
sixth  apostolic  canon. 

Justinian,  early  in  the  sixth  century,  in  his  law 
de  Epis.  et  Cler.  prohibits  the  marriage  of  priests; 
but  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  in  580,  but  little  after- 
wards, when  Pelagius  obliged  sub-deacons  to 
separate  from  their  wives,  observed  that  it  was 
hard  to  subject  them  to  a  law  which  they  had  not 
promised  to  keep,  and  that  in  future  they  should 
only  be  obliged  to  promise  chastity  when  they 
were  ordained. 

St.  Augustine,  the  apostle  of  England,  was 
either  so  ignorant  of  this  law,  or  else  found  it  so 
impracticable,  that  he  consulted  St.  Gregory  to 
know  if  priests,  incapable  of  maintaining  absolute 
continence,  could  marry  and  yet  continue  in  the 
sacred  ministry.* 

Such  was  the  confusion  and  variety  of  discip- 
line on  this  subject  up  to  the  seventh  century. 
Each  diocese  had  its  own  practice,  and  each  deter- 
mined as  seemed  it  best.  But  we  must  not  lose 
sight  of  the  vexations  and  abuses  practised  in 
order  to  put  in  execution  a  law  which  originated 

*  V.  the  reply  of  Gre^.  to  Augustine. 


80  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

more  from  the  private  notions  of  those  who  de- 
creed it,  than  from  any  utility  that  could  result 
from  it.*  That  such  was  its  origin  we  have  al- 
ready shown,  and  it  is  abundantly  manifest  from 
the  insufficiency  of  those  means  employed  to  en- 
force it. 

The  sixth  general  council  was  at  length  held. 
In  it  no  disciplinary  canons  were  enacted.  Mean- 
time, uniformity  of  discipline  was  loudly  called 
for  on  several  points,  and  especially  relating  to  the 
celibacy  of  priests,  touching  which  there  prevailed 
such  contradictory  practices.  Eleven  years  sub- 
sequent, at  the  solicitation  of  most  of  the  bishops 
who  were  present  at  that  general  council,  Justinian 
couA'^oked  another  as  supplementary  to  it.  More  than 
two  hundred  bishops  were  consequently  assembled 
in  the  emperor's  palace,  with  the  especial  purpose 
of  reforming  and  harmonizing  the  discipline  of 
different  sections  of  the  church.  We  then,  for 
the  jfirst  time,  see  a  general  council  establishing 
the  law  of  celibacy.  But  in  what  manner  was  it 
done  ?     This  we  proceed  to  show.f 

The  council  says  :  |  "  Since  in  the  apostolic 
canons,  marriage  is  not  permitted  except  to  readers 
and  singers,  we  henceforth  prohibit  it  to  sub-dea- 
cons, deacons,  and  presbyters,  under  penalty  of 
deposition.  Whoever,  therefore,  wishes  "  to  marry, 
must  do  so  before  entering  either  of  these  orders." 

"  We  know  that  in  the  church  at  Rome  married 
priests  are  required  to  abandon  their  wives  ;  but 
we,  following  the  perfection  of  the  apostolic  can- 

*  Fleury  on  the  7th  cent. 

t  Consult  Fleury  also  on  this  council.    His  testimony  is  the 
more  authoritative,  since  he  defended  the  celibate. 
X  Const.  3,  Imp.  Leon. 


ITS    HISTORY.  81 

ons,  desire  that  such  marriages  remain  in  force, 
and  that  such  persons  be  not  deprived  of  the  so- 
ciety of  their  wives  when  they  may  with  propriety 
enjoy  it.  Hence,  if  any  married  man  be  judged 
worthy  of  the  holy  ministry,  he  shall  not  be  exclu- 
ded from  it  on  account  of  being  married,  nor  in 
his  ordination  shall  he  be  made  to  promise  to 
abandon  his  wife,  lest  dishonor  be  brought  on 
matrimony,  which  God  has  instituted  and  blessed 
with  his  presence." 

"  Every  one  therefore  who  in  contempt  of  the 
apostolic  canons  shall  presume  to  deprive  either 
priest,  deacon,  or  sub-deacon  of  the  lawful  society 
of  his  wife,  shall  be  deposed.  Those,  however, 
who  think  they  ought  to  elevate  themselves  above 
the  regulation  of  the  apostles,  which  forbids  a  man 
to  forsake  his  wife  under  religious  pretensions, 
and  to  do  more  than  is  divinely  required  of  them, 
if  they  can  part  with  their  wives,  by  mutual  con- 
sent, we  command  them  to  do  so,  and  to  show  us 
their  sincerity." 

This  council  has  been  generally  accredited. 
Pope  Sergius,  however,  refused  to  acknowledge 
it ;  but  that  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  Rome 
alwa)^s  pretending  to  be  not  only  the  mother  and 
mistress  but  also  the  queen  of  churches,  never 
tolerated  any  censure  upon  her  acts.  Neverthe- 
less, the  council  in  Trullo  was  recognised  by  the 
eastern  church,  under  the  title  Quinisist^  as  sup- 
plementary both  to  the  5th  and  6th,  and  its  author- 
ity remains  still  in  force. 


CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 


(a).  Reflections  upon  the  course  of  Pafnucius  ;  and 
upon  the  validity  and  legitimacy  of  the  Quinisist 
Council. 

The  advocates  of  a  forced  celibacy  regard 
these  two  circumstances  as  the  shoal  on  which  all 
their  arguments  make  shipwreck,  and  hence  they 
endeavor  in  every  way  to  pervert,  disfigure,  and 
question  them.  But  notwithstanding  all  the  quib- 
bling that  can  be  exhausted  upon  facts  so  notorious 
and  incontestable  they  are  recognised  as  authentic. 

The  course  taken  by  Pafnucius,  has  been  de- 
tailed by  Socrates,  who  had  conversed  with  many 
of  the  fathers  present  at  the  Council  of  Nice  ;  by 
Sozomeneus,  a  writer  almost  contemporary  ;  by 
Oelazius,  who  in  the  5th  century  wrote  a  history 
of  the  acts  of  this  council ;  by  Suidas  and  others. 
Dupin  remarks,  that  "  those  who  doubt  this  fact 
must  do  so  through  fear  of  the  censure  it  brings 
upon  the  discipline  of  the  church  at  the  present 
day,  rather  than  on  the  ground  of  any  reasoning 
that  can  be  alleged  against  it."  Indeed  Fleury 
does  not  contest  it,  nor  does  even  Bergier  dare  to 
deny  it. 

The  council  at  Trullo  was  convoked  by  the  Em- 
peror Justinian  at  the  solicitation  of  many  of  the 
bishops  present  at  the  6th  general  council ;  a  for- 
mality which  preceded  anterior  councils.  It  was 
numerously  attended,  consisting  of  more  than  200 
bishops,  among  whom  were  the  four  great  patri- 
archs in  person,  and  the  pope  by  his  legates. 
There  was  perfect  liberty  in  voting.  In  it  was 
no  attempt  to  define  doctrines,  but  simply  to  regu- 
late general  discipline  on  those  points  in  which 


ITS    HISTORY.  83 

uniformity  had  been  wanting,  or  departures  from 
the  spirit  of  the  church  had  taken  place. 

Now  for  such  an  object  200  bishops  from  the 
principal  churches,  were  more  than  sufficient  to 
collate  the  different  usages  of  their  several  dio- 
ceses in  order  to  choose  that  discipline  most  gen- 
erally received,  and  best  adapted  to  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  church. 

They  all  subscribed  to  the  canons  of  this  coun- 
cil, including  the  legates  of  the  pope ;  although 
the  latter  afterward  pretended  they  did  it  in  the 
surprise  of  the  moment ;  in  fine  the  emperor  ac- 
cepted and  confirmed  them.  Let  the  reader  now 
judge  which  exhibits  the  most  candor,  wisdom, 
and  prudence  ;  the  eastern  church  in  adopting  and 
following  the  discipline  fixed  upon  by  this  coun- 
cil without  a  dissenting  vote  ;  or  that  of  Rome  in 
refusing  to  become  subject  to  it  because  Pope 
Sergius  stood  aloof  from  it  as  in  some  of  its  can- 
ons interfering  with  the  practice  of  his  church. 
Who  now  can  tolerate  that  blind  devotion  to  popes 
which  has  led  some  to  detract  from  the  authority 
of  a  council  respected  by  antiquity,  and  even  in- 
corporated by  the  7th  council  general,  with  the 
6th  as  a  supplementary  part  of  that  ?  The  truth 
is,  that  the  Romans  are  not  yet  willing  to  submit 
themselves  to  this  declaration  of  the  7th  general 
council ;  but  of  what  consequence  is  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  church  at  Rome,  to  the  catholicity  of 
a  council  ? 

St.  Antonine,  Caetano,  Sanderus,  Clemangis, 
and  others,  call  in  question  the  Council  of  Pisa, 
because,  forsooth,  Rome  became  unwilling  to  rec- 
ognise it  as  legitimate  ;   nevertheless,  Rome  at 


84  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

first  regarded  it  as  general,  and  so  do  many  chitrch- 
es  at  the  present  day. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  regarded  as 
general  by  the  popes  Martin  V.,  Eugene  IV.,  and 
Pius  II. ;  but  after  Rome  found  some  of  its  pre- 
tensions rather  inconvenient,  she  ceased  to  recog- 
nise it  as  such ;  nevertheless,  the  greater  share  of 
Catholic  churches   still  give  it  rank  among  the 

general  councils.     The  Council  of  Bazil  is   gen- 

.  .  .  ^ 

eral  with  some,  private  with  others,  and  part  of  its 

sessions  are  rejected  by  a  third  class.     In  fact, 

there  are  five  opinions  respecting  its  orthodoxy. 

The  5th  Lateran  council  is  only  regarded  as 
general  by  the  ultramontanists,  and  that  of  Flor- 
ence is  not  yet  admitted  to  that  category  by  France, 

In  view  of  these  facts,  from  which  it  appears 
that  the  mere  church  of  France  or  of  Rome  can 
with  impunity  recognise  or  omit  to  recognise  a 
council  as  general,  that  was  held  even  on  doc- 
trinal subjects,  who  can  dispute  the  right  of  the 
eastern  church,  then  the  most  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  whole  Catholic  body,  to  sustain  the 
authority  of  the  Council  of  Trullo  on  matters 
purely  disciplinary  ?  Rome  herself  was  so  well 
satisfied  of  these  truths  that  she  has  remained 
content  with  preserving  her  discipline,  and  never 
censuring  that  of  the  eastern  church,  founded  on 
this  council.  Other  councils  general  were  after- 
ward held,  in  which  both  churches  united,  but 
none  of  them  assumed  to  revoke  the  discipline 
established  by  the  Council  of  Trullo. 


ITS    HISTORY.  85 

(b).    Co7itinuation  of  the  history  of  clerical  celibacy , 
subsequent  to  the  seventh  century. 

The  eastern  church  confirmed  its  discipline  re- 
specting the  marriage  of  priests.  There,  the  mar- 
ried priest  who  was  ordained,  lived  as  a  married 
man  until  death;  but  if  one  who  had  vowed  chas- 
tity and  had  been  ordained  single,  then  married, 
he  lost  his  office  as  a  punishment  for  his  violation 
of  faith.  Continence  was  required  as  a  perfec- 
tion in  bishops,  but  as  these  were  few  in  number 
and  generally  taken  at  an  advanced  age  from  mon- 
asteries, where  the  practice  of  this  virtue  had 
been  rendered  constant  and  easy,  no  inconvenience 
resulted  from  the  regulation. 

Notwithstanding  what  was  decreed  at  the  coun- 
cil above  referred  to,  the  custom  by  degrees  ob- 
tained of  priests  taking  a  sort  of  noviciate  of  two 
years,  during  which  they  might  still  marry,  with- 
out being  dismissed  from  their  office.  The  Em- 
peror Leo  abolished  this  practice  as  an  abuse.* 

At  length  the  eastern  church  ceased  altogether 
to  strive  against  nature,  and  to  oppose  ineffective 
barriers  to  the  propensity  for  matrimony.  Her 
clergy  acquired  the  public  confidence,  founded  on 
the  consideration  of  their  virtues.  Thus  a  single 
judicious  law,  adapted  equally  to  the  nature  of 
man  and  to  ecclesiastical  dignity,  put  an  end  to 
evils  which  the  Latin  church,  in  councils,  bulls, 
and  decrees,  without  number,  has  attempted,  and 
to  this  day  endeavors  in  vain  to  avoid. 

In  fact,  notwithstanding  the  rivalry  between  the 
two  churches,  which  would  naturally  produce  the 

*  Fleury,  Hist.  eccl.  11  cent. 
8 


86  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

greatest  exactness  in  the  observance  of  the  disci- 
pline of  each,  we  find  that  in  the  9tb  century  the 
national  Council  of  Worms  established  anew  the 
law  of  celibacy,  under  penalty  of  suspension  for 
its  infraction,  just  as  though  the  ancient  law  had 
been  forgotten. 

In  the  10th  century,  the  Council  of  Augsburgh 
again  prohibited  the  marriage  of  bishops,  presby- 
ters, deacons,  and  sub-deacons,  as  it  observed  ac- 
cording to  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Carthage. 
Into  such  disuse  had  the  ancient  laws  fallen  that 
this  council  only  thought  of  referring  to  that  of 
Carthage,  and  not  to  the  decisions  of  popes,  or 
even  of  anterior  councils. 

Yvo  de  Chartres,  in  the  11th  century,  when 
consulted  by  Galon,  Bishop  of  Paris,  respecting 
the  marriage  of  one  of  his  canons,  replied,  that  if 
a  similar  thing  should  occur  in  his  diocese,  he 
should  let  the  marriage  stand,  and  content  himself 
with  causing  the  canon  to  descend  to  a  lower 
office.  This  circumstance  proves  the  disuse  into 
which  the  ancient  laws  on  this  subject  had  fallen. 
It  was  so  great  that  even  bishops  seemed  to  be 
unacquainted  with  their  existence,  and  the  most 
scrupulous  among  them  were  governed,  in  cases 
like  these,  merely  by  their  own  option. 

In  the  Council  of  Pavia,  at  which  Benedict 
VIII.  presided,  the  penalty  of  deposition  was  in- 
stituted against  priests  who  kept  concubines  ;  and 
horrible  is  the  picture  which  that  pope  drew  of 
the  licentious  lives  which  they  led. 

This  doubtless  resulted  in  a  great  degree  from 
the  prohibition  of  matrimony,  which  would  natu- 


ITS    HISTORY.  87 

rally  be  enforced  in  places  under  the  immediate 
inspection  of  the  popes. 

It  appears  that  in  this  century,  in  far  the  larger 
portion  of  the  Latin  church,  the  law  requiring 
celibacy  was  in  perfect  disuse. 

This  is  what  St.  Peter  Damian  affirms  to  the 
pope  on  the  testimony  of  the  bishops.  It  is  what 
he  himself  observed,  in  the  bishopric  of  Turin, 
where  the  clergy  had  married  by  consent  of  Co- 
nibertus,  their  bishop,  and  as  he  confessed,  were 
the  most  honorable  and  learned  he  had  met  with.* 

The  same  is  gathered  from  the  letter  which 
Alexander  11.  addressed  to  the  king  and  bishops 
of  Dalmatia,  wherein  the  pope  declared  if  in  future 
a  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon,  should  marry  or  should 
retain  a  wife  which  he  had,  he  should  be  degraded 
from  his  office,  and  should  neither  assist  in  the 
choir,  nor  receive  the  emoluments  of  the  church. f 
It  is  again  seen  in  the  decree  of  Nicolas  II.,  ad- 
dressed to  the  bishops  of  France,  and  ordering 
that,  in  consequence  of  a  resolution  expressed  in 
the  canons  of  the  Council  of  Rome,  at  which  he 
had  presided,  every  priest  who,  subsequently  to 
the  decree  of  Leo  IX.  (8  years  previous),  had 
publicly  married,  and  did  not  abandon  his  wife, 
should  be  deprived  of  his  ecclesiastical  functions, 
and  no  longer  take  part  in  the  sacred  offices  of  a 
presbyter.^ 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  St.  Uldaric,  or,  as 
others  prefer  to  call  him,  Gontier,  chancellor  of 
the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  and  Bishop  of  Bambergh, 

*  Mabillon  Lib.  62.  Aniial.  ou  Ep.  25. 
t  Hugo  Flavi.  Tom.  1.,  nov.  Bibliot. 
t  Escritores  da  meia  idade^  Tom.  2. 


88  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

wrote  to  Nicolas,  affirming  that  the  marriage  of 
priests  was  neither  forbidden  by  the  Old  nor  New 
Testaments  ;  and  concluded  by  urging  the  pope 
to  withdraw  his  decree,  lest  it  should  expose  the 
clergy  to  great  crimes,  by  depriving  them  of  the 
wives  whom  they  had  lawfully  married.* 

Gregory  VII.,  more  active,  or  less  prudent,  un- 
dertook to  restore  this  discipline,  which  during  sev- 
en centuries  had  not  been  put  in  general  practice. 
He  employed  every  species  of  means,  and  by  his 
order,  or  in  imitation  of  him,  several  councils  re- 
newed the  prohibition.  But  what  was  the  result  ? 
The  clergy  of  Cambray  wrote  a  letter  to  their 
brethren  of  Rheims,  imploring  aid  against  the  Ro- 
manists, and  against  Gerard  their  bishop,  who  in- 
sisted upon  their  putting  away  their  wives  in  obe- 
dience to  the  pope's  legate,  who  was  attempting 
to  enforce  a  decree  so  long  ineffective.!  The 
clergy  of  Nyon  wrote  a  similar  letter  to  that  of 
Cambray,  expressing  the  same  sentiments.}: 

The  Gallic  clergy  withstood  the  decree  of  Greg- 
ory VII.,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  him  a 
heretic  for  ordering  separation  from  their  wives, 
against  the  express  prohibition  of  scripture.  Sig- 
ibert,  of  Glenbour,  also  remonstrated  against  the 
decree.! 

The  Archbishop  of  Mayence  and  the  Bishop 
ofPass,  3  declared  that,  although  they  ordered  the 
decree  to  be  enforced,  it  was  simply  in  awe  of 
that  pope,  so  inflexible  in  his  opinions.     In  fact, 

*  Mabillon  Lib.  64.    Annal  n.  133— Ibid  in  Append, 
f  Musaeum  Italicum.     Tom.  1. 

•^  Cellier  Hist,  des  Autenrs  Eccl. — Richard's  Analysis  of 
Councils. 

II  Lambert  Stet, 


ITS    HISTORY.  89 

the  pope,  dissatisfied  with  such  an  execution  of 
his  commands,  smnmoned  the  archbishop  to  appear 
in  Rome,  accompanied  by  his  suffragans.* 

Aton,  Bishop  of  Constance,  perceiving  the  evils 
that  would  result  from  the  execution  of  that  im- 
prudent decree,  not  only  omitted  putting  it  in  force, 
but  suffered  his  clergy  still  to  marry  ;  but  the 
pope  summoned  him  to  Rome,  ordered  his  clergy 
and  people  not  to  obey  him,  and  at  length  excom- 
municated him. 

At  the  Council  of  Worms,  in  presence  of  Henry 
IV.,  Gregory  VII.  was  deposed  by  all  the  bishops 
present,  on  account  of  the  disorders  occasioned 
by  his  imprudent  decrees.  In  the  same  year,  the 
pope  deposed  Henry  IV.,  and  absolved  his  vassals 
from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  at  the  same  time 
deposing  and  excommunicating  a  great  number  of 
bishops,  t 

These  were  the  results  of  imprudent  and  unjust 
measures.  Public  tranquillity  was  disturbed,  and 
in  many  places  the  clergy  themselves  rebelled  ; 
and  the  superstition  of  the  age  favoring  the  designs 
of  the  pope,  whole  countries  were  involved  in  ter- 
rible commotions.  The  rigor  of  his  indiscreet 
zeal  by  no  means  moderated,  and  he  at  length  tri- 
umphed, at  the  expense  of  religion,  and  the  dis- 
credit of  the  church.J 

In  the  same  century,  however,  the  council  of 
Winchester  resolved  that  married  priests  might 
continue  to  live  with  their  wives,  and  that  only  in 
future  no  one  should  be  ordained  without  promising 

•  Vit.  Greg.  Act.  Mabillon. 

T  V.  Hist.  Eccl.  de  Fleury,  de  Choas    and  de  Qmeiner. 

i  V.  Vol.  5,  Sup.  to  Richard's  Annals  of  the  Councils, 


&Q  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

continence.  In  Estrigonia,  in  1114,  Archbishop 
Lorenzo,  in  the  31st  canon  of  the  council  held  in 
that  city,  permitted  priests,  married  before  their 
ordination,  to  remain  in  conjugal  life,  although  prin- 
ciples of  chastity  were  enjoined  upon  them,* 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  relating  to  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy,  when  the  general  Lateran 
Council  of  1139  decreed  that  all  marriages  of 
priests  should  be  null,  subjecting  those  who  had 
been  guilty  of  matrimony  to  penance,  and  renewing 
the  prohibition  of  hearing  mass  from  them  or  such 
as  kept  concubines.  Thenceforward  priests  could 
no  longer  marry,  and  concubinage  universally  took 
the  place  of  matrimony. 

In  1237,  a  council  in  London,  at  which  a  Legate 
of  the  Pope  presided,  in  its  fifteenth  canon,  or-^ 
dained  that  the  clergyman  who  should  marry  clan-^ 
destinely  should  be  deprived  of  his  benefice,  and 
his  children  incapable  of  holding  property,  or  of 
receiving  ordination.  This  proves  that  secret  mar- 
riages came  in  vogue  when  they  could  no  longer 
be  celebrated  openly. 

In  1279  the  Council  of  Pont-au-de-mar,  canon 20, 
again  spoke  of  married  priests,  in  a  manner  which 
proves  that  in  the  archbishopric  of  Rouen  clerical 
marriages  were  still  tolerated.  It  is  true  that 
Richard  supposes  this  toleration  merely  to  have 

*  In  reading  the  records  of  councils,  we  find  that  the  rea- 
sons oil  which  their  decisions  were  based,  are  not  in  all  cases 
the  best.  E.  g.  the  4th  general  Lateran  Council  decided  that 
an  order  was  not  valid  unless  given  in  good  faith,  alleging, 
as  a  foundation  of  said  decision,  this  maxim — Omne  quod 
non  est  ex  fide,  peccatum  est.  Nothing  could  be  more  ill  ap- 
plied. Another  council  general,  in  prohibiting  matrimony 
with  the  four  degrees  of  kindred,  founded  itself  on  the  four 
fluids  that  composed  the  four  elements,  &c.  !  ! 


ITS    HISTORY.  91 

extended  to  sub-deacons  ;  but  such  a  supposition  is 
purely  gratuitous,  having  no  real  foundation. 

It  is  worthy  of  especial  remark,  that  notwith- 
standing the  reiteration,  during  successive  ages,  of 
the  prohibition  forbidding  priests  to  marry,  and  the 
penalties  declared  against  concubinage,  yet  things 
became  no  better,  nor  were  ecclesiastics  punished 
according  to  the  laws.  Such  a  phenomenon  has 
never  occurred,  except  when  laws  have  been  man- 
ifestly unjust,  or  ill-adapted  to  their  object.  The 
innate  sentiment  of  justice  opposes  the  execution 
of  contradictory  laws, sand  their  executors  become 
indifferent  to  their  enforcement.  Thus  nature  her- 
self supplies  the  oversight  and  deficiencies  of 
imprudent  lawgivers. 

Finally,  the  last  general  council  in  the  sixteenth 
vcentury  mitigated  a  little  the  penalties  of  concu- 
binage, but,  as  we  have  already  observed,  cofirmed 
the  law  making  clerical  orders  an  absolute  imped- 
iment to  matrimony,  and  anathematized  those  who 
.should  say  that  priests  might  marry  in  spite  of  the 
ecclesiastical  law  prohibiting  them  ;  asserting  as 
a  reason,  that  continence  is  not  impossible,  and 
•that  God  will  grant  it  to  all  who  ask  for  it  in  a 
proper  manner  * 

*  What  but  the  most  stupid  is^norance,  joined  to  the  gross- 
est superstition,  could  have  reconciled  sovereigns  to  tolerate 
certain  acts  of  the  councils,  e.  g.  the  persecution  of  Jews  and 
heretics,  with  the  enslavement  of  the  former  ;  a  prohibition  to 
jenjoy  public  offices,  and  a  subjection  to  be  robbed  of  their 
children,  &c. 

The  iburth  Lateran  Council  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  that 
the  Pope  would  expose  the  lands  of  those  prhices  who  should 
not  expel  heretics  from  their  dominions.  It  is  equally  curious 
to  see  the  councils  of  Toledo  and  Saragossa,  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventh  century,  prohibiting  the  widows  of  kings  to 
marry,  under  pain  of  excommunication,  and  obliging  them  to 
take  the  habit  of  nuns  in  some  monastery  for  life,  &c.,  &c. 


93  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

This  council,  however,  was  not  accredited  on 
points  of  discipline  in  many  places ;  and  to  this 
day,  France  and  Hungary  have  not  consented  to 
its  publication ;  while  many  of  its  articles  have 
been  reformed,  altered,  and  nullified,  sometimes  by 
popes,  sometimes  by  governments,  and  finally,  by 
contrary  custom  and  disuse. 

That  was  certainly  attained  which  some  of  the 
popes  desired  ;  that  is,  priests  were  prohibited 
marrying.  Sovereigns,  ignorant  of  their  rights, 
frightened  by  the  superstition  of  their  people,  and 
subject  to  the  dominion  of  popes,  tolerated,  or 
rather  yielded  to,  the  sentiments  of  their  times.* 
And  if  France,  free  from  the  ordeal  of  fire  which 
was  made  to  devour  the  victims  destined  to  placate 
the  wrath  of  the  Omnipotent,  when  they  dared  to 
question  the  maxims  published  by  the  See  of  Rome, 
had  not,  by  a  peculiar  providence,  preserved  some 
remnants  of  liberty,  much  more  tardy  had  been 
the  progress  and  spread  of  the  true  principles  of 
ecclesiastical  law.f 

One  truth  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  ;  it  is  that 
clerical  orders  have  prevailed  as  an  absolute  im- 
pediment to  matrimony,  only  while  temporal  power 
has  sustained  the  measure  by  the  sword ;  which 
circumstance  councils  have  designed  to  secure  by 
the  thunder  of  their  anathemas.     Whenever  sov- 

*  It  ought  to  be  observed,  that  the  liberties  of  the  Roman 
Cathohc  church  in  France  owe  their  existence  more  to  the 
protestations  of  government  than  to  the  eflbrts  of  ecclesiastics. 
The  latter  have  several  times  solicited  the  publication  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  in  which  the  rights  of  bishops  are  very  little 
consulted ;  but  the  design  is  apparent,  of  inculcating  the 
universal  dominion  of  popes,  their  supremacy  to  general 
councils,  &c.,  &c. 

t  V,  1st  Council  of  Vienna,  4th  Lateran,  that  of  Florence,  &c. 


VIEW    OF    THE    INSTITUTION.  93 

ereigns  have  left  this  matter  at  the  option  of 
ecclesiastics,  they  have  promptly  changed  their 
concubinage  into  lawful  matrimony.  This  has 
been  observed  among  Protestant  sects  in  England, 
and  more  recently  in  France. 

§9.    COMPENDIOUS  VIEW    OF    THE    INSTITUTION    OF 
CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

It  has  now  been  proved  that  this  institution  is  nei- 
ther divine  nor  apostolic  in  its  origin  ;  that  up  to  the 
close  of  the  third  century  Christian  ministers  were 
at  liberty  to  marry,  and  live  a  conjugal  life  with  those 
wives  whom  they  had  espoused  prior  to  their  ordi- 
nation, although,  through  custom,  their  marriages 
were  rare,  and  many  withdrew  from  conjugal  life 
by  mutual  consent ;  that  from  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century,  when  the  especial  law  enjoining 
celibacy  originated,  its  non-observance  was  so 
uniform,  that  in  many  places  it  fell  into  perfect 
disuse,  and  even  total  forgetfulness  ;  that  notwith- 
standing the  renewak  of  that  law  in  subsequent 
ages,  with  bitter  and  most  unjust  penalties,  yet  it 
never  was  generally  enforced  ;  that  in  the  eleventh 
century,  the  law  in  question  had  fallen  into  such 
complete  forgetfulness,  that  priests  married  with 
impunity  in  the  greater  share  of  dioceses,  even 
with  the  permission  of  their  respective  bishops  ; 
and  that  after  the  general  Lateran  Council  in  the 
twelfth  century,  constituted  clerical  orders  an  ab- 
solute impediment  to  matrimony,  still,  in  some 
dioceses,  the  clergy  preserved  their  right  to  marry. 

It  has  been  proved  that  in  the  east,  from  the 
beginning,  priests  have  enjoyed  the  privileges  of 
marriage  contracted  before  their  ordination  ;  and 


94'  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

that  even  those  who  were  single,  sometimes,  though 
rarely,  married  ;  that  about  the  end  of  the  7th 
century,  discipline  having  been  hitherto  divergent 
on  this  particular,  the  Quinisist  Council  confirmed 
it  for  ever,  declaring  not  only  that  matrimony  was 
no  obstacle  to  ordination,  but  that  it  was  criminal 
to  oblige  a  priest  to  abandon  his  wife  ;  and  that 
although  a  single  priest  who  married  subsequent 
to  his  ordination  was  deposed,  yet  his  marriage 
was  accounted  valid. 

Have  these  practices  of  the  eastern  church  ever 
been  condemned  by  the  western?  This  question 
gives  rise  to  the  following  observation  : — 

§10.  THE  WESTERN  CHURCH  NEVER  OPPOSED  THE 
DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  EASTERN,  IN  RESPECT  TO 
THE    CELIBACY    OF    PRIESTS. 

The  council  held  in  Trullo  censured  the  church 
of  Rome  for  excluding  her  married  priests  from 
conjugal  life,  contrary  to  the  express  declarations 
of  scripture,  and  what  was  still  worse,  obliging 
them  to  separation.  There  has  not  appeared  a 
council  of  the  Latin  church  which  has  attempted 
to  defend  itself  from  this  imputation.  The  Latin 
and  Greek  churches  preserved  their  unity  several 
centuries  subsequent  to  this  event,  and  celebrated 
together  several  general  councils,  which  kept 
silence  on  this  matter,  while  each  church  continued 
in  its  own  disciplinary  practices. 

The  two  churches  at  length  separated,  and  when 
a  re-union  was  stipulated,  the  Greek  church, 
among  other  things,  required  of  the  Latin  the  abo- 
lition of  celibacy.*     When,  in  1215,  in  the  gen- 

*  Can.  14  ordains  punishment  in  all  the  rigor  of  the  canons, 
against  priests  living  in  concubinage,  and  adds :  Qui  autem 


COMPENDIUM  OF  THE  ARGUMENT.      95 

eral  Lateran  Council,  under  Innocent  III.,  in 
presence  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and 
Jerusalem,  and  of  the  Emperor  of  the  East,  cer- 
tain canons  were  instituted  relatiA^e  to  the  Greeks, 
the  Latins,  far  from  censuring  their  practice  in 
retaining  married  priests,  on  the  contrary,  formally 
recognised  the  legitimacy  of  the  usage.* 

Innocent  III.,  being  consulted  to  know  if  the  son 
of  a  Greek  priest  could  be  promoted  to  the  epis- 
copacy, replied,  that  as  the  Greek  church  did  not 
admit  the  vow  of  continence,  without  the  least  doubt 
the  ordination  might  proceed.j  In  fine,  Benedict 
XIV.,  knowing  that  he  had  no  right  to  alter  the 
discipline  respecting  celibacy  toward  those  Greeks 
who  had  become  reunited  with  the  Latin  church, 
granted  them  the  preservation  of  their  usages  on 
this  point  in  the  bull  57,  de  dogm.  et  rit.  ab  Itol- 
ogre.  tenend.| 

§11.  GENERAL  COMPENDIUM  OF  THE  ARGUMENT. 

We  have  now  demonstrated  the  legitimate  au- 
thority of  the  General  Legislative  Assemby  of 
Brazil,  to  establish,  revoke,  and  abrogate  impedi- 
ments to  matrimony,  as  being  essentially  a  civil 
contract,  and  entirely  and  exclusively  subject  to 
temporal  power. 

We  have  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  abolish- 

secundem  regionis  suae  morem  non  abdicarunt  copulam  conju- 
galem,  si  lapsi  fuerint,  gravius  puniatur,  cum  legitime  matri- 
monio  possunt  uti. 

*  Mandamus,  si  aliud  canonicum  non  obsistat,  ad  confirma- 
tionem,  et  consecrationem  sine  dubitatione  procedas.  In  C. 
cum  olim  de  clericis  conj. 

t  V.  cap.  6  de  cler.  conj. 

i  Burchard's  selection  of  canons,  and  Richard's  reflections 
on  same.    Art.  Empecti.  del.  Ord. 


^  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

ing  the  impediment  of  clerical  orders,  as  being 
unjust,  and  the  cause  of  immorality  both  to  clergy 
and  people,  and  at  the  very  least  as  useless. 

We  have  further  demonstrated,  that  clerical  ce- 
libacy was  neither  enjoined  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles  upon  ministers  of  religion,  nor  was  it 
exclusively  recommended  to  them  ;  that  notwith- 
standing the  discipline  of  the  eastern  and  western 
churches  was  different,  in  this  respect,  from  the 
close  of  the  3d  or  beginning  of  the  4th  century, 
yet  that  circumstance  was  never  a  cause  of  dis- 
union or  of  anathema  ;  that  the  Greek  church, 
however,  has  always  censured  the  Latin  for  ex- 
cluding married  priests  from  matrimonial  life, 
while  the  latter  has  never  taken  exception  to  the 
customs  of  the  Greek  church  on  this  point,  but^ 
on  the  contrary,  has  solemnly  recognised  them  as 
legitimate,  and  permitted  their  practice  to  Greek 
clergymen  who  have  become  united  with  it. 

^12.    LAWFULNESS  OF  CENSURE  UPON    DISCIPLINE- 

We  must  first  premise  that  the  church  merely 
defines  and  declares  what  is  doctrine,  and  that  her 
decrees  do  not  change,  except  respecting  disci- 
pline ;  that  doctrine  is  in  its  nature  invariable,  being 
founded  upon  the  constant  revelation  of  scripture, 
or  upon  universal  and  uninterrupted  tradition  ;  that 
discipline,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in  its  nature 
variable,  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  founded 
on  human  calculations,  which  may  err ;  because,  in 
the  second  place,  wisdom  and  prudence,  of  which 
legislators  are  not  always  possessed  in  abundance, 
demand  that  it  should  be  so  ;  and  finally,  because 
it  needs  to  be  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  time, 


CENSURE    UPON    DISCIPLINE.  97 

place,  and  persons,  which  are  perpetually  changing. 
That  clerical  celibacy  is  a  matter  of  discipline, 
has  been  manifest  in  what  we  have  said,  showing 
it  to  be  merely  an  ecclesiastical  institution,  although 
this  feature  would  not  be  changed  in  case  it  could 
be  proved  apostolical.  Let  those  who  are  scrupu- 
lous, however,  consult  Burchard,  bishop  of  Worms, 
Richard,*  Pius  IV. ,t  Selvagius,J  Natal  Alexan- 
der,§  and  even  Bergier,||  and  others  who  can  not  be 
suspected. 

I  will  repeat  the  words  of*  Richard  for  this  rea- 
son, that  he  is  a  most  pertinacious  defender  of 
celibacy.  Here  they  are  :  "  Discipline  is  essen- 
tially variable,  because  it  does  not  consist  in  things 
necessary  to  salvation,  or  determined  or  revealed 
in  the  Gospel,  but  in  practices  either  indifferent  in 
themselves  or  not  essentially  necessary,  and  whose 
utility  depends  upon  times,  persons,  and  nations. 
Hence  the  same  practices  may  be  useful  at  one 
time,  in  respect  to  a  certain  people,  and  useless, 
or  even  prejudicial,  at  another  time,  in  respect  to 
another  people.  For  this  reason,  the  decisions  of 
the  church  are  not  always  the  same  upon  the  same 
points  of  discipline  ;  and  hence  the  difference 
between  the  Latin  and  Greek  churches,  respecting 
the  administration  of  sacraments,  celibacy  of 
priests,  &c.,  &c.  In  order  that  a  point  in  disci- 
pline should  be  invariable,  and  a  matter  of  faith,  it 
were  necessary  that  it  should  have  been  revealed, 
and  believed  as  such  by  universal  tradition." — 
Treatise  on  Councils,  chap.  17,  Rule  4. 

♦  See  preceding  note, 
t  V.  Fieury  continuation  of  Hist. 
X  Selv.  Inst.  can.  e  Antig.  Eclez, 
&  Dissert,  ad  4th  cent.  Hist.  Eclez. 
jj  Art.  Celib.  Diction.  Theolog. 
9 


98  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

It  is  not  only  laAvful,  but  it  is  evidently  a  duty  of 
man,  as  a  member  of  society  and  as  a  good  Chris- 
tian, to  censure  every  species  of  legislation  which 
is  found  in  contradiction  with  nature,  and  with  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  instituted.  Respect  and 
moderation,  however,  ought  to  direct  in  the  analy- 
sis of  either  injustice,  imprudence,  or  inutility,  in 
the  law  which  it  is  contemplated  to  abolish.  But 
censure  freely  exercised  by  the  subjects,  is  the 
peaceful  and  lawful  means  by  which  the  lawgiver 
may  learn  the  imperfections  of  a  law,  and  become 
sufficiently  enlightened  to  modify  or  revoke,  accord- 
ing to  the  exigence  of  circumstances. 

To  what  but  censure  do  we  owe  the  extinction 
of  so  many  abuses  in  ecclesiastical  discipline,  so 
many  excesses  of  jurisdiction,  and  so  many  super- 
stitions stealthily  introduced  into  the  worship  of 
God  ?  If  public  censure  had  not  been  prohibited  — 
if  the  tribunal  of  fire  had  not  closed  up  the  mouth 
alike  of  the  wise  and  the  suffering  —  if  popes  had 
not  assumed  the  right  of  imposing  silence  by 
means  of  their  terrible  anathemas,  not  only  against 
him  who  spake,  but  who  even  thought,  in  contra- 
diction to  their  principles  —  if  a  shameful  espion- 
age had  not  been  made  the  duty  of  every  Roman 
Catholic,  who  was  obliged  to  denounce  even  his 
own  father,  his  own  son,  or  the  wife  of  his  bosom, 
to  be  immolated  in  the  sacred  fire  which  supersti- 
tion kindled  in  the  very  heart  of  empires,  and 
which  ought  not  to  have  been  endured  by  those  who 
had  the  power  to  extinguish  it  —  but  for  these 
obstacles,  the  law  of  celibacy  would  not  have  been 
perpetuated  in  the  church  as  a  source  of  continual 
evil  to  society,  individuals,  and  the  church  herself.* 
*  Note  C,  Appendix. 


CENSURE    UPON    DISCIPLINE.  99 

Meantime  we  owe  to  the  efforts  of  nature  con- 
tending against  the  prejudices  of  education,  the 
exercise  of  that  just  censure  which  has  put  an 
end  to  the  celebrated  ordeals  denominated  judg- 
ments of  God ;  to  the  eucharist  administered  to 
the  dead  ;  to  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  ;  to  the 
disastrous  crusades  ;  to  the  abuse  of  indulgences  ; 
to  the  universal  dominion  of  popes  ;  to  the  vener- 
ation of  false  decretals;  to  the  existence  of  the 
holy  office  of  the  Inquisition,  &c.  &c. 

But  censure  must  still  continue,  in  order  that 
the  discipline  of  the  church  be  further  modified, 
altered,  and  perfected ;  so  much  the  more  in  the 
present  day,  since  popes,  fearing  the  omnipotence 
of  general  councils,  for  three  hundred  years  have 
omitted  to  convoke  any  more,  contrary  to  the  ex- 
press determination  of  said  councils,  to  which 
they  are  subordinate,  and  to  which  they  owe  a 
filial  obedience,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  us  Catho- 
lics. 

The  church  is  not  infallible,  save  when  she  de- 
fines doctrines  in  theology  and  morals.  As  to 
discipline,  she  may  fail  in  prudence,  and  even  tol- 
erate things  very  difiicult  to  be  justified.  This 
was  asserted  by  the  great  Cano  ;  and  the  judi- 
cious Fleury,  in  analyzing  some  usages  in  modern 
discipline,  remarks  :  "  To  all  these  things  I  see 
no  reply,  unless  it  be  compatible  with  good  faith 
to  grant  that  in  these  matters,  like  all  others,  prac- 
tice does  not  ahvays  accord  with  right  reason. 
But  it  does  not  hence  follow  that  we  abandon  our 
principles,  which  we  see  plainly  founded  on  scrip- 
ture and  the  most  wholesome  traditions  of  anti- 


100  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

quity."*  The  great  theologian,  James,  of  Paiva, 
so  much  eulogized  by  the  historians  of  the  Council 
of  Trent,  declared  before  that  body,  that  councils 
may  err  in  matters  of  discipline,  and  not  only  so, 
but  they  frequently  decree  things  not  the  most 
suitable.!  Such  is  also  the  opinion  of  our  own 
Pereira,J  and  many  others  versed  in  the  de- 
crees of  councils  ;||  while  St.  Augustine  himself 
remarked  the  same  thing  in  the  4th  century. § 
Let  no  one,  therefore,  deny  us  the  use  of  a  right 
which  to  him  who  knows  how  to  appreciate  it, 
becomes  also  a  most  important  duty. 

§13.  THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME 
RESPECTING  CLERICAL  CELIBACY  IS  NOT  PRU- 
DENT. 

It  remains  to  examine  whether  the  church  does 
right  in  insisting  upon  the  celibacy  of  priests,  as 
a  necessary  condition  of  their  being  preserved  in 
their  office,  since  this  is  her  only  proper  preroga- 
tive ;    it  having  been  shown  that  the    power  of 

*  Discours.  10.,  Hist.  Eccl. 

t  Liv.  1,  Def.  Trid.  Fid. 

t  Analise  da  Profisao  da  Fe.  &c. 

II  In  fact,  if  we  should  yield  a  blind  obedience  to  councils, 
Avhat  would  become  of  us,  having  before  our  eyes  the  anath- 
ema of  the  council  general  of  Constance,  against  those  who 
said  that  the  decretals  Avere  false,  and  all  the  clergy  who 
studied  them  ? 

In  what  state  would  civilization  be  found  if  we  should  im- 
plicitly follow  the  decrees  of  councils,  from  the  7th  century 
to  the  Council  of  Trent  ?  Let  those  tell  us,  who  have  read 
them,  and  who  know  the  evils  they  have  caused.  The  dark 
ages  in  which  they  were  held  are  a  palliation  to  their  errors, 
and  it  is  still  to  be  wondered  how  Divine  Providence  could 
preserve  doctrine  unharmed,  in  the  midst  of  such  ignorance. 

$  Quis  nescitipsa  pleniora,  saepe  a  posterioribus  emendari, 
id  est,  Conciliis.     Liv.  2,  C.  3  de  bapt.  cent.  Don. 


THE    DISCIPLINE    NOT    PRUDENT.  101 

rendering  null  their  marriages,  belongs  exclusively 
to  temporal  authority. 

To  desire  that  ministers  of  religion  be  perfect, 
that  is,  that  they  may  possess  not  only  ordinary 
virtues,  but  even  such  as  may  render  them  angelic, 
is  an  excellent  desire.  It  corresponds  to  the  ad- 
vice given  by  the  Savior  to  all  Christians,  and  es- 
pecially to  their  ministers  and  spiritual  guides. 
But  to  determine  by  law  that  priests  must  be  per- 
fect, is  an  impracticable  assumption,  founded  on 
the  mistaken  notion  that  perfection  is  a  natural 
state,  and  hence  may  be  common  to  an  entire  class. 
It  is  to  elevate  an  exception  above  a  general  rule ; 
it  is  an  imprudence  calculated  to  make  the  yoke 
of  obedience  heavy,  salvation  difficult,  and  human 
life  in  many  cases  insupportable.  It  is  a  severity 
which  Jesus  Christ,  the  author  and  founder  of  our 
religion,  did  not  exact,  which  the  apostles  did  not 
institute,  and  to  which  the  church  herself  did  not 
assent,  until  the  4th  century. 

The  discipline  of  celibacy  would  be  tolerable, 
if  instead  of  being  established  by  law  it  were  left 
to  custom,  and  to  the  choice  of  the  individual,  as 
was  wisely  done  till  the  close  of  the  third  century. 
Few  evils  would  then  result  from  it,  and  the 
church  would  neither  be  destitute  of  upright  min- 
isters, nor  would  the  weak  be  exposed  to  such 
frequent  occasions  of  stumbling.  If  it  were  per- 
mitted to  receive  ministers  from  the  class  of  men 
who  are  married,  the  following  results  might  be 
expected.  1.  The  number  of  persons  eligible  to 
the  office  would  be  infinitely  increased,  and  there 
would  consequently  be  opportunity  for  a  better 
choice.  2.  The  church  would  be  enabled  to  be 
9* 


102  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

severe  in  her  examination  of  persons  voluntarily 
making  vows  of  chastity,  to  know  whether  they 
actually  are  examples  of  the  perfection  they  pro- 
fess. 3.  She  would  not  be  obliged  to  avail  her- 
self of  the  ministerial  services  of  young  men,  at 
20  years  of  age,  but  might  wait  till  they  were  ma- 
ture ;  that  is,  till  at  least  30  years  ;  the  period  at 
which  Christ  commenced  his  divine  mission,  and 
which,  having  been  required  by  the  ancient  canons, 
is  doubtless  necessary  for  the  proper  discharge  of 
functions  so  august  as  to  demand  that  respect 
which  age  united  to  virtue  inspires.  This  could 
not  be  secured  at  the  present  time,  since  those 
men  are  very  rare  who  would  remain  single  till 
30  years  old,  in  order  to  enter  the  ministry,  and 
hence  a  great  want  of  service  would  be  experi- 
enced. Thus  one  evil  brings  on  another.  4.  The 
church  would  not  then  be  under  the  necessity  of 
closing  her  eyes  upon  the  concubinage  of  priests 
(as  the  pious  Gerson  long  since  thought  proper), 
but  might  proceed  against  them  with  all  the  rigor 
of  canonical  law ;  might  sift  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff,  preserve  unspotted  the  honor  and  dignity  of 
the  church,  and  promote  the  welfare  and  salvation 
of  an  unworthy  minister,  by  separating  him  from  an 
office  for  which  he  is  not  suitable,  without  how- 
ever depriving  him  of  the  only  means  of  remedy- 
ing his  misfortune. 

Some  friends,  however,  of  the  usages  of  our 
church,  perhaps  prejudiced  in  favor  of  their  anti- 
quity, would  prefer  that  we  should  return  to  the 
discipline  decreed,  although  very  rarely  practised, 
between  the  4th  and  12th  centuries  ;  that  is,  that 
we  should  not  aflmit  to  the   ecclesiastical  office 


THE    DISCIPLINE    NOT    PRUDENT.  103 

married  men  who  remained  as  such,  but  would 
merely  depose  those  priests  who  should  marry, 
without  annulling  their  marriages.  In  fact,  noth- 
ing but  a  blind  presumption,  or  a  fanatical  regard 
for  customs,  of  whose  origin  they  are  ignorant, 
could  discover  to  any,  motives  of  preference  in 
favor  of  a  discipline  whose  results  we  have  al- 
ready depicted.  I  confess,  however,  that  this 
choice  would  be  that  of  a  less  evil,  since  at  least 
some  priests  would  prefer  matrimony  to  the  honors 
and  conveniences  conferred  by  the  priesthood. 
Nevertheless,  the  greater  part  would  do  as  his- 
torians inform  us  the  priests  did  when  Gregory 
VII.,  displaying  the  whole  rigor  of  his  zeal, 
obliged  them  to  abandon  either  their  churches  or 
their  wives.  Almost  all,  at  first,  feigned  divorce, 
and  soon  secretly,  but  afterward  openly,  presented 
the  heart-sickening  spectacle  of  infidelity  and  of 
scandal.* 

Let  us  now  forget,  for  a  moment,  all  that  has 
been  said,  in  order  to  suppose  it  necessary,  or  at 
least  of  prime  utility,  that  the  priest  be  single,  in 
order  to  preserve  himself  (as  St,  Paul  expresses 
it),  free  from  the  cares  of  the  world,  not  being 
anxious  to  please  his  wife,  &c.  But  by  being  free 
from  a  wife  may  he  not  also  have  father,  mother, 
sisters,  and,  perhaps,  children,  to  care  for  ?  In 
the  present  discipline  under  which  priests  are  or- 

*  Sineius,  early  in  the  5th  century,  refusing  to  accept  a  bish- 
opric, said  it  was  because  he  did  not  wish  to  visit  his  wife  in 
a  secret  manner,  giving  the  semblance  of  adultery  to  what 
was  lawful.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  the  greater  share  of 
married  priests  practised  on  the  principles  to  which  he  object- 
ed, as  the  reiterated  prohibitions  of  councils  aimed  at  the 
same  thing. 


104  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

dained  with  the  title  of  a  patrimony,  are  they  not 
nearly  all  employed  in  earning  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence ?  Are  they  not  artists,  teachers,  or  cul- 
tivators, maintaining  a  great  number  of  domestics 
under  their  supervision  ? 

The  judicious  Fleury  asks :  "  What  is  the  care 
of  a  family  in  comparison  with  that  of  a  State  ? 
What  is  the  attention  due  to  a  wife  and  five  or  six 
children,  and  domestics  in  proportion,  compared 
to  that  necessary  in  the  government  of  a  hundred 
thousand  subjects  ?"  Now,  beside  the  case  of 
many  bishops  who  govern  large  countries,  we 
have  the  case  of  our  most  holy  father  the  pope, 
offering  us  the  example  of  a  monarch  bishop, 
ruling  millions  of  men.  But  do  none  of  these 
things  usurp  those  cares  which  ought  to  be  ex- 
clusively employed  in  the  holy  ministry  ?  Do 
they  not  divide  the  heart  of  the  priest,  and  dis- 
qualify it  for  prayer?  Is  matrimony  a  sacrament 
full  of  grace,  and  called  for  by  the  nature  of  man  1 
Is  this  the  only  condition  in  life  which  incapaci- 
tates man  for  the  priesthood  ?  All  know  that  it  is 
not.  And  it  is  not,  if  for  no  other  reason,  because 
among  the  apostles  there  was  only  one,  John,  a 
single  man,  and  he  was  not  the  individual  who 
received  the  honor  of  the  primacy,  but  Peter,  who 
was  beyond  question  a  married  man.  Again,  it  is 
not,  because  the  universal  church,  until  the  4th 
century,  admitted  to  the  priesthood  married  men, 
who  retained  their  wives,  and  the  eastern  church 
to  this  day  does  the  same  ;  while  the  western 
church  has  approved  of  its  conduct  in  this  respect, 
although  she  yet  refuses  to  imitate  it. 

Let  us  proceed  to  another  hypothesis,  as  though 


THE    DISCIPLINE    NOT    PRUDENT.  105 

all  the  foregoing  reasons  were  either  specious  or 
futile.  Is  there  any  one  who  will  pretend  that 
continence  is  practised  by  the  greater  portion  of 
the  clergy  ?  Let  us  grant  the  very  least,  that  one 
hundredth  part  of  the  priests  are  incontinent. 
Does  not  this  proportion  deserve  the  compassion 
of  the  church  ?  Did  not  Christ,  in  his  parable  of 
the  good  shepherd,  show  that  in  order  to  save  a 
single  lost  sheep  he  would  often  leave  the  ninety- 
nine  which  were  out  of  danger  ? 

Let  the  church,  then,  leave  the  ninety-nine 
priests  who,  we  will  suppose,  can  remain  conti- 
nent or  not,  at  their  option,  and  if  but  a  single  one 
is  lost  through  the  law  of  celibacy,  let  her  revoke 
that  law. 

The  Hebrews  were  absolved  from  the  natural 
law,  and  permitted  to  have  more  than  one  wife, 
but  Christ  declares  that  polygamy  was  suffered 
among  them  by  Moses,  on  account  of  the  hard- 
ness of  their  hearts. 

Fifteen  hundred  years  of  experience  prove  the 
impracticability  of  a  pure  celibacy  in  the  greater 
PART  of  the  clergy.  Let  the  church,  then,  grant 
them  matrimony,  which  at  the  very  least,  is  not 
opposed  to  the  laws  of  nature. 

St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  other  fathers, 
who  regarded  successive  marriages  as  criminal, 
nevertheless  concede  that  St.  Paul  permitted  them, 
in  view  of  human  weakness.  Let  the  church, 
then,  permit  the  marriage  of  priests,  which  is  no 
crime,  in  view  of  their  notorious  weakness  !  For 
this  permission  there  is  no  need  of  indulgence  ; 
prudence  and  justice  sufficiently  demand  it.  Let 
the  church  be   governed  by  the  advice  of  Paul, 


106  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

when  he  spake  by  permission  and  not  by  com- 
mandment ;  and  in  imitation  of  him,  at  least  grant 
marriage  to  priests  lest  Satan  tempt  them  to  incon- 
tinence. 

Was  it  not  St.  Augustine  who  taught  that  the 
severity  of  a  law  ought  to  he  moderated,  in  order 
that  charity  may  apply  a  remedy  to  greater  evils  ?* 

Did  not  Pope  St.  Simasius  proclaim  this  max- 
im .-f— It  would  be  cruel  to  insist  on  the  observ- 
ance of  a  law,  when  that  law  has  become  preju- 
dicial to  the  church  ;  because  laws  are  made  with 
the  design  of  preventing,  not  producing  evil  ? 

Did  not  St.  Bernard  say,  "  nothing  is  more  just 
than  a  change,  alteration,  or  omission  of  those 
things  which  have  been  established  through  prin- 
ciples of  charity,  when  charity  itself  thus  de- 
mands?" J 

And  has  not  this  been  the  course  of  the  church 
respecting  many  important  laws,  some  of  which 
were  dictated  by  the  apostles  themselves  ? 

Even  in  our  own  generation,  have  not  Catholics 
been  absolved  from  the  sanctification  of  a  multi- 
tude of  holydays,  which,  during  ages  past,  they 
were  obliged  to  keep  holy  by  abstinence  from 
flesh,  and  a  cessation  of  labor  on  said  days  1^ 

*  Ep.  151,  apud.  Grat.  j  Ep.  ad  avit. 

X  Lib.  de  Proc.  e  Discip. 

^  An  infinite  number  of  the  laws  of  the  church  have  been 
revoked,  or  suff'ered  to  fall  into  complete  disuse.  Without 
mentioning  many  other  examples  in  point,  I  will  refer  to 
frugality  at  bishops'  tables,  which,  from  the  two  dishes  limited 
by  several  councils,  is  changed  into  sumptuous  banquets. 
Silks,  gold,  and  precious  stones,  so  often  prohibited,  have 
become  their  common  dress  and  ornaments.  In  fine,  tlie  sim- 
plicity in  their  houses  and  furniture  which  so  many  councils 
concerned  themselves  to  perpetuate  by  appropriate  canons, 
has  been  changed  into  a  degree  of  luxury,  ill-becoming  the 


THE    DISCIPLINE    NOT    PRUDENT.  107 

1  will  now,  at  the  close  of  my  observations, 
submit  the  case  of  St.  Paul,  which,  to  every  lover 
of  truth  and  justice,  is  more  than  sufficient  tb  prove 
all  that  I  have  said  respecting  chastity.  It  is 
detailed  for  our  profit  in  the  scriptures. 

It  having  become  necessary  that  there  should 
be  some  women  in  the  church,  set  apart  for  the 
catechism,  instruction  and  assistance  of  other 
women ;  but  this  service  being  incompatible  with 
the  subjection  due  to  a  husband,  and  the  residence 
necessary  to  a  married  woman  in  her  own  house, 
with  her  family,  St.  Paul  determined  that  for  dea- 
conesses should  be   chosen  widows  of  one  hus- 

spirit  of  that  religion  of  which  they  are  the  principal  minis- 
ters. Splendid  palaces,  a  numerous  train  of  servants,  sump- 
tuous carriages,  &c.,  &c.,  are  the  example  which  the  head  of 
the  church  and  his  cardinals  give  us  of  obedience  to  the  canon- 
ical laws  enjoining  Christian  simplicity!  But  it  is  rejoined 
that  times  have  changed,  and,  in  this  respect,  discipline  must 
change  with  them.  Very  well.  Then  the  discipline  requiring 
celibacy  is  alone  necessary  to  be  eternally  preserved?  He 
who  fasts  may  receive  more  than  one  species  of  food  ;  the 
penitent  may  be  delivered  from  the  rigor  of  penitential  canons  ; 
the  uncle  may  marry  his  niece,  for  in  all  these  cases  regard 
must  be  had  to  human  weakness ;  we  may  omit  to  sanctify 
the  days  of  St.  Philip.  St.  Lawrence,  &c.,  in  order  to  devote 
them  to  labor,  since  experience  has  shown  that  such  days  are 
generally  spent  in  amusements,  gaming,  indolence,  and  crime  ; 
and  in  no  one  of  these  cases  are  the  faithful  ordered  to  beseech 
Heaven  to  succor  their  weakness,  and  to  exert  themselves,  since  God 
does  not  command  impossibilities,  but  imparls  tiis  grace  to  those 
xvho  worthily  seek  it.  The  priest,  however,  alas  for  him  !  can 
not  marry,  although  the  experience  of  fifteen  centuries  has 
proved  the  yoke  of  celibacy  to  be  hard,  and  the  law  requiring 
it  to  be  the  cause  of  concubinage,  scandal,  disgrace,  and  mis- 
fortune, to  persons  unnumbered.  All  other  laws  may  be  abol- 
ished ;  their  frequent  transgression  may  be  a  sufficient  pretext 
for  the  legislator  to  revoke  them,  in  order  to  avoid  greater 
evils  ;  but  upon  the  law  of  cehbacy,  notwithstanding  its 
public  and  constant  violation,  legislators  must  forever  close 
their  eyes  !  The  Lord  have  mercy  upon  his  church  !  Vide 
Appendix,  note  D. 


108  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

band,  honest,  sober,  &c.,  who  should  be  sustained 
at  the  expense  of  the  churches  which  they  served. 
What  followed  ?  In  a  short  time  the  apostle 
discovered  a  necessity  of  remedying  the  evil.  He 
says,  1.  Tim.  5:  9-16:  "Let  not  a  widow  be 
taken  into  the  number  under  threescore  years  old, 
having  been  the  wife  of  one  man,  well  reported  of 
for  good  works,"  &c.  "  But  the  younger  widows 
refuse,"  &c.  "  I  will,  therefore,  that  the  younger 
women  marry,  bear  children,  guide  the  house,  give 
none  occasion  to  the  adversary  to  speak  reproach- 
fully ;  for  some  are  already  turned  aside  after 
Satan."*  If,  then,  the  church  of  Rome  is  unwil- 
ling to  revive  the  earliest  and  happiest  ages  of 
Christianity,  by  the  ordination  of  married  men 
possessed  of  the  qualifications  required  by  the 
apostles,  let  her  at  least  imitate  the  wisdom,  pru- 
dence, and  charity  of  that  inspired  man,  and  admit 
to  the  ecclesiastical  office  no  more  bachelors,  until 
they  shall  have  at  least  arrived  at  the  discreet  age 
of  threescore  years  ! 

*  What  different  prudence  we  have  in  these  days  !  Girls 
and  boys,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  are  admitted  to  a  pro- 
fession of  vows,  in  which  they  oblige  themselves  not  only  to 
celibacy  for  life,  but  to  blind  obedience,  rigorous  poverty,  and 
an  eternal  imprisonment  !  Which  is  the  better  discipline^ 
that  instituted  by  St.  Paul  or  by  our  modern  canons  ?  Let  the 
results  of  each  testify. 


CONCLUSION.  109 


CONCLUSION. 

Having  now  demonstrated  the  right  of  the  civil 
authority  to  establish,  modify,  and  revoke  impedi- 
ments to  matrimony  and  the  necessity  of  abolish- 
ing the  impediment  of  clerical  orders,  it  would  be 
wrong  to  doubt  for  a  moment  that  the  General 
Assembly  of  Brazil,  either  through  mistaken  cal- 
culations of  prudence,  or  regard  to  the  prejudices 
of  certain  individuals,  who  enjoy  little  or  no  con- 
sideration in  society,  will  hesitate  in  the  discharge 
of  an  important  duty,  and  leave  an  honorable  and 
numerous  class  of  citizens  to  suffer  still  longer  the 
deprivation  of  a  right  as  sacred  as  it  is  essential 
to  the  human  race,  a  privation  also  which  entails 
unnumbered  evils  upon  society  itself.*  It  remains, 
however,  to  show  that,  in  an  additional  and  indi- 
rect manner,  it  belongs  to  the  General  Assembly 
to  restrain  the  discipline  of  clerical  celibacy. 

It  is  a  doctrine  current  at  the  present  day  among 
canonists  themselves,  that  whenever  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal law  becoines  injurious  to  society,  it  ceases  to  be 
religious,  and  for  this  very  reason  the  temporal  au- 
thority is  bound  to  embarrass  its  execution.] 

*  Appendix,  note  E. 

t  Eybel.  Intr.  in  Jus.  Eccl.  Cap.  6.  There  have  occurred  an 
infinite  number  of  examples  of  the  exercise  of  this  right,  by 
Catholic  sovereigns  ;  who  have  sometimes  vetoed  bulls,  some- 
times prohibited  their  execution,  and  sometimes,  in  tine,  de- 
termined things  contrary  to  ecclesiastical  law.  It  will  be 
sufficient  merely  to  compare  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  which  is  accepted  among  us,  with  laws  subsequently 
enacted  in  opposition  to  it. 

10 


110  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

Now  it  is  certain,  from  the  uninterrupted  expe- 
rience of  fifteen  centuries,  that  the  law  enjoining 
celibacy  has  produced  immorality  in  a  class  of 
citizens  charged  with  instructing  the  public  in 
moraUty  and  religion.  For  this  cause  their  office, 
beside  being  useless,  becomes  prejudicial,  when- 
ever the  people  find  their  conduct  giving  the  lie  to 
their  doctrines  and  precepts,  immorality  in  society 
being  thus  encouraged.  Hence  it  follows,  that  it 
is  a  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  remove 
from  these  persons  thus  publicly  employed,  every 
circumstance  which  renders  them  useless  or  in- 
jurious to  society. 

Let  us  suppose  now  that  the  legislature  should 
revoke  the  impediment  of  clerical  orders,  but  that 
the  church,  although  recognising  the  validity  of 
the  marriage  of  priests,  should  still  continue  to 
depose  and  even  excommunicate  them,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  such  a  shock  between  the  concessions 
of  temporal  power  and  the  punishments  inflicted 
by  spiritual  power  would  cause  dissatisfaction, 
party  strife,  and  the  disturbance  of  public  quiet. 

Therefore  the  General  Assembly,  in  addition 
to  revoking  the  impediment  of  clerical  orders, 
not  only  could,  but  of  right  should,  suspend  the 
benej)lacito  to  those  papal  laws  which  respect  ce- 
libacy, that  they  may  henceforth  have  no  more 
force  in  the  Empire  of  Brazil.* 

*  In  view  of  all  these  considerations,  no  other  resource  is 
left  to  the  defenders  of  celibacy,*  but  that  of  perverting  and 
falsely  interpreting  the  authors  quoted,  and  in  want  of  proof, 
to  seize  the  weapons  of  fanaticism  and  superstition,  and 
brand  as  heretics,  infidels,  and  libertines,  those  who  shall  de- 
clare in  favor  of  my  opinions.  But  I  request  the  reader  not 
to  rely  either  on  my  quotations  nor  those  of  my  adversaries 
'  Appendix,  Note  F. 


CONCLUSION.  Ill 

I  have  now  redeemed  my  promise,  I  have  satis- 
fied my  conscience,  and  have  discharged  a  duty 
imposed  upon  me  by  the  nation,  in  hope  of  pro- 
moting public  happiness.  I  have  fulfilled  one  of 
the  most  important  obligations  of  the  Christian 
minister,  by  exposing  the  inconveniences  of  a  law 
which  does  so  much  to  prejudice  the  interests  of 
religion  itself. 

Let  others  now  say  what  they  please.  They 
may  show  that  I  have  erred,  but  they  can  not, 
without  calumny,  impeach  my  good  intentions. 

I  will  conclude  this  demonstration  by  a  pro- 
fession of  the  doctrine  of  the  Council  of  Gangres. 
"  We  admire  virginity  united  to  humility  ;  we  ap- 
prove of  continence  practised  with  piety  and  grav- 
ity ;  we  respect  the  matrimonial  union  as  honor- 
able ;  and,  in  a  word,  we  desire  the  church  to 
practise  what  is  taught  in  the  sacred  scriptures 
and  apostolic  traditions." 

but  to  examine  with  his  own  eyes  the  references  made  and  the 
contexts  of  the  authors.  Then  let  him  decide  upon  the  sin- 
cerity Eind  good  faith  of  those  with  whom  this  question  is  con- 
tested. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  A,  p.  48. 
Dispensations,  apostolic  graces,  &c. 

The  Despertador,  a  daily  paper  of  Rio  de  Ja- 
neiro, on  the  14th  of  March,  1840,  published  the 
following  article  of  correspondence,  which  is  trans- 
lated to  show  into  whose  hands  the  power  of  grant- 
ing dispensations  was  held  at  so  late  a  period  of 
the  1 9th  century,  and  how  graciously  it  was  used  : — 

"  Mr.  Editor  : — Nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Catholic  church,  in  which,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
I  hope  to  live  and  die,  I  have  been  hitherto  unwil- 
ling to  credit  the  general  clamor  which,  for  a  long 
time,  has  been  in  universal  circulation  against  the 
scandalous  simony  practised  by  the  pontifical 
legate,  resident  at  this  court,  in  the  concession  of 
apostolic  graces  and  dispensations. 

"  Being  employed,  however,  to  solicit  the  dispen- 
sation of  a  matrimonial  impediment,  in  favor  of  a 
Brazilian  artist  of  low  circumstances,  I  suffered 
the  consequences  of  my  incredulity,  having  the 
greatest  difficulty  to  secure"  the  brief  of  dispensa- 
tion for  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  milreis  ! 
(about  $100). 

10* 


114  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

"  I  became  astonished  and  amazed,  on  reflecting 
what  riches  must  accrue  to  the  Abbot  Fabrini 
(then  Charge  cf  Affaires,  now  Internuncio,  of  his 
holiness  at  the  imperial  court  of  Brazil),  from  the 
humiliation  or  the  ignorance  with  which  our  pres- 
ent bishops  renounce  for  his  benefit  the  power 
confided  to  them  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  their 
predecessors  have  always  used  in  its  plenitude. 

"  I  ought  not  to  pass  over  in  silence  the  cautious- 
ness used  by  the  chancellor,  or  whoever  acts  as 
secretary  to  the  legation,  in  refusing  to  pass  a 
receipt  for  the  sum  received,  as  is  always  practised 
in  the  ecclesiastical  chambers,  to  furnish  the  agent 
with  a  voucher.  Was  it  because  such  monies  did 
not  belong  to  the  perquisites  of  any  one,  but  were 
to  be  deposited  in  the  coffers  of  charity  for  the 
aid  of  indigent  Brazilians  ?  In  this  case  the  poor 
have  a  prospect  of  dying  with  hunger  ;  meanwhile, 
this  most  illustrious  delegate  from  Rome  is  growing 
rich  and  leading  a  sumptuous  life. 

"An  Ecclesiastic." 

Dispensations  for  the  use  of  flesh  during  Lent, 
and  on  fast  days,  are  still  granted  by  the  bishops, 
and  by  the  wholesale ;  it  being  generally  under- 
stood that  the  Brazilians  will  not  be  bound  by  the 
rules  of  the  Roman  church  in  this  particular.  An 
instance  occurred  in  ]  839,  in  which  a  six  years' 
dispensation  having  terminated,  the  legislature  of 
the  province  embraced  by  the  diocese  conde- 
scended to  go  through  the  formality  of  requesting 
his  reverence  the  bishop  to  grant  another  similar 
one,  which  he  accordingly  did. 


APPENDIX.  115 

NOTE  B,  p.  57. 

"  He  is  convicted  of  nefarious  sacrilege  every  time  he 
exercises  a  ministry  polluted  with  such  a  crime." 

What  more  humiliating  picture  of  the  depravity 
of  man  could  possibly  be  drawn  ?  The  reader 
may  be  assured  it  is  no  fancy  sketch.  He  will 
perceive  that  this  essay  was  not  designed  to  fur- 
nish statistics  respecting  clerical  immorality,  but 
that,  nevertheless,  this  subject  is  continually  ap- 
pealed to,  as  one  well  understood  and  of  portentous 
signification.  The  author  deemed  it  necessary  to 
establish  general  principles  ;  particular  cases  of 
their  exemplification  were  familiar  to  the  minds  of 
all.  When  we  regard  the  heinousness  of  this 
species  of  guilt  in  but  a  single  case,  it  is  sufficient 
to  fill  the  mind  with  disgust  and  horror.  What 
language,  then,  can  portray  the  "abomination" 
of  that  moral  "  desolation  "  which  must  naturally 
result  when  the  character  here  described  is  not 


uncommon 


It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  add  anything  to 
the  assertions  of  the  author,  but  I  ought,  perhaps, 
to  illustrate  the  deep  meaning  of  some  of  his 
expressions,  which  might  otherwise  be  taken  by 
some  as  vague  and  declamatory.  Let  it  then  be 
recollected  that  this  sober  production  was  espe- 
cially addressed  to  a  body  of  legislators,  including 
bishops  and  priests,  beside  the  author,  who,  of 
course,  would  be  able,  as  well  as  interested,  to 
repel  any  false  statements  or  conclusions  respect- 
ing the  class  to  which  they  belonged,  and  we  may 
better  estimate  the  force  of  many  of  the  sweeping 
charges  here  made. 


116  CLEUICAL    CELIBACY. 

E.  g.  p.  64.  Is  there  any  one  ivho  unll pretend  that 
continence  is  practised  by  the  greater  portion  of  the 
clergy  1 

Again,  p.  63,  among  the  advantages  anticipated 
from  admitting  married  men  to  orders  are  these  : 

"  2.  The  church  would  be  enabled  to  be  severe  in  her 
examination  of  persons  voluntarily  making  vows  of 
chastity,  to  know  whether  they  actually  are  examples 
of  the  perfection  they  profess^ 

"  4.  The  church  loould  not  then  be  obliged  to  close 
her  eyes  upon  the  concubinage  of  priests, ^''  &c. 

There  was  a  notorious  case,  in  which  the  vicar 
of  a  parish  had  the  hardihood  to  apply  to  a  legis- 
lative body  for  an  especial  act  to  legitimatize  some 
eight  or  ten  of  his  children,  so  that  they  might 
inherit  his  property !  I  understood  said  act  was 
granted.  One  of  the  most  melancholy  views  of 
this  subject  is  that  which  exhibits  the  effect  of 
such  conduct  on  the  public  mind.  When  practised 
by  spiritual  guides,  men  supposed  to  be  in  especial 
favor  with  Heaven,  the  most  revolting  sins,  if  not 
hallowed,  become  at  least  stripped  of  their  enor- 
mity, and  rendered  worthy  of  extenuation  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people. 


NOTE  C,  p.  98. 
"If  the  tribunal  of  fire  had  not  closed  up  the  mouths 
alike  of  the  wise  and  the  suffering  —  if  popes  had  not 
assumed  the  right  of  imposing  silence  by  means  of  their 
terrible  anathemas  —  if  a  shameful  espionage  had  not  been 
made  the  duty  of  every  Roman  Catholic,  who  was  obliged 
to  denounce,"  &c.  —  "  the  law  of  celibacy  would  not  have 
been  perpetuated  in  the  church,  as  a  source  of  continual 
evil  to  society,  individuals,  and  tlie  church  herself." 

What  Roman  Catholic  among  us  dare  say  as 
much  ?      Perhaps   in    no    country  where    Roman 


APPENDIX.  117 

Catholicism  is  the  reUgiori  of  the  state,  does  there 
prevail  more  liberality  of  sentiment  on  many  points 
connected  with  the  doctrines  and  polity  of  that 
church,  than  in  Brazil ;  while  it  certainly  exceeds 
that  found  among  Catholics  in  several  countries 
where  that  church  is  not  predominant.  The  pres- 
ent translation  is  proof  in  point ;  and  also  a  prop- 
osition subsequently  introduced  by  the  author, 
Feijo,  to  the  National  Legislature  to  provide  for 
the  civilization  and  christianization  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  interior  of  Brazil,  by  means  of  Mo- 
ravian missionaries.  It  may  also  be  inferred,  from 
the  statement  made  by  a  very  intelligent  citizen  of 
the  country,  viz  :  that  "  among  the  community  at 
large  there  prevails  no  manner  of  prejudice  against 
reading  the  scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue."  The 
writer  is  acquainted  with  many  facts  which  cor- 
roborate this  statement,  so  much  in  contrast  with 
what  is  true  of  the  great  body  of  Catholics  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  countries  from  which  they 
chietly  emigrated. 


NOTE  D,  p.  107. 

"  We  may  omit  to  sanctifj^  the  days  of  St.  Philip, 
St.  Lawrence,"  «Stc. 

Thirty-six  days  of  the  year,  in  addition  to  the 
Sabbaths,  were  formerly  observed  in  Brazil  as 
close  holydays,  by  cessation  from  labor,  public 
business,  &c.  For  the  reasons  hinted  at  in  the 
author's  note,  thirteen  of  them  have  now  been 
abolished  or  dispensed,  and  thus  become  like  other 
secular  days,  save  that  the  precept  requiring  the 
faithful  to  hear  mass  in  the  mornmg  is  considered 


118  CLERICAL    CELIBACY 

binding  by  the  church,  although  very  little  attended 
to  by  the  people.  These  days  are  familiarly 
denominated  half-holydays — dias  santos  de  meia 
cara,  &c.  The  remark  of  the  author  respecting 
amusements,  gaming,  and  indolence,  is  probably 
still  quite  too  true,  both  of  the  close  holydays  and 
Sundays. 


NOTE  F,  p.  110. 
The  defenders  of  clerical  celibacy. 

We  find  reference,  both  in  the  preface  and  at 
the  close  of  this  work,  to  the  opposition  which  the 
author  knew  full  well  its  sentiments  would  call 
forth.  The  only  individuals  known  to  have  at- 
tempted written  answers  to  them,  were  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Bahia,  and  a  Portuguese  priest  by  the 
name  of  Luiz  Gonsalves  dos  Santos. 

The  latter  published  a  work  four  or  five  times 
larger  than  the  Demonstration,  entitled,  "  Defence 
of  Clerical  Celibacy  againt  the  separate  report  of 
Padre  Feijo.^^  It  was  met  by  a  pamphlet  of  nine- 
teen pages,  under  the  title  of  a  "  Reply  to  the 
nonsense,  absurdities,  impieties,  and  self-contra- 
dictions of  the  Padre  L.  G.  dos  Santos,  in  his 
pretended  defence  of  clerical  celibacy."  A  few 
paragraphs  from  this  reply  deserve  to  be  preserved 
in  this  connexion.  It  is  addressed  in  the  form  of 
a  letter  to  his  opponent,  and  commences  thus  : — 

"Reverend  Sir: — Before  replying  to  the  non- 
sense and  absurdities  with  which  your  work 
abounds,  in  attempting  to  defend  clerical  celibacy 
against  all  the  principles  of  propriety,  justice,  and 


APPENDIX.  119 

morality,  I  wish  to  comply  with  your  request  to 
present  the  title  by  which  I  am  '  constituted  advo- 
cate in  behalf  of  the  clergy  of  Brazil,  and  author- 
ized to  make  a  separate  Report,  embracing  a 
project  which  no  priest  has  requested  me  to  ad- 
vance.' 

"  Ask  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  for  the  proper 
certificates,  and  you  will  ascertain  what  number  of 
constituents  sent  me  as  a  member  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Brazil.  Then  giving  yourself  the 
trouble  to  read  the  political  constitution  of  the  em- 
pire you  will  learn  my  rights  and  obligations  to 
propose  whatever  I  judge  necessary  to  the  hap- 
piness of  its  citizens.  Among  those  citizens  are 
all  our  numerous  ecclesiastics,  unless  indeed  we 
except  the  ultramontanists  and  papists  who  obey 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  their  lord  and  master,  and 
think  him  authorized  to  give  laws  to  sovereigns 
on  subjects  within  their  exclusive  jurisdiction." 

"  Good  reason  have  the  clergy  to  demand  who 
made  you  their  advocate,  and  authorized  you  to  un- 
dertake the  defence  of  celibacy.  Are  you  igno- 
rant that  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Deputies 
on  Ecclesiastical  Affairs,  has  four  members  be- 
side myself,  viz.,  two  priests,  one  bishop,  and  one 
bachelor  in  canons  ?  These  gentlemen,  if  they 
differ  from  my  opinions,  may  at  a  proper  time 
present  theirs. 

"  Does  your  pride  or  your  pharisaical  zeal  carry 
you  to  such  an  extent  as  to  desire  to  take  the  lead 
of  them  and  instruct  them  ?  Or  if  you  could  not 
be  content  to  wait  for  their  report,  would  it  not 
have  been  better  to  transfer  the  task  you  have  un- 
dertaken to  some  abler  pen  ;  to  some  less  intoler- 


120  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

ant  spirit,  who  although  without  reason,  might  yet 
with  dignity,  manage  arguments  already  stale,  so 
as  not  to  insult  others,  nor  bring  discredit  upon 
religion  itself,  in  the  way  you  do. 

"  It  is  a  painful  task  to  reply  to  nonsense  and 
absurdities  which  are  palpable  to  all  who  read  and 
reflect  on  them  :  but  since  you  have  had  the  ad- 
dress to  bring  into  use  the  weapons  belonging  to 
ignorance,  fanaticism,  and  a  perverse  heart,  show- 
ering in  every  page  of  your  work  the  epithets, 
libertines,  debauchees,  impious,  &c.,  upon  those 
who  are  so  happy  as  to  see,  hear,  and  know  a  lit- 
tle more  than  yourself,  it  becomes  necessary  for 
me  to  dismask  you,  in  order  that  the  unwary  peo- 
ple may  not  be  persuaded  that  your  criminal  ani- 
mosity to  attack  my  opinion,  results  either  from 
your  sincere  convictions  or  from  the  justice  of  the 
cause  you  assume  to  defend." 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  facts  alleged  by  our 
author  were  at  all  questioned.  The  proposition 
of  his  opponent  was  as  follows :  "  Clerical  celib- 
acy is  of  apostolic  institution,  as  the  church  al- 
ways has  taught,  as  the  councils  have  defined  it, 
and  -as  the  popes  have  declared  it,  against  inno- 
vators, Greek  schismatics,  heretics,  libertines," 
&c.  The  discussion  would,  of  course,  lead  into 
the  endless  mazes  of  fathers,  traditions,  and  can- 
ons, and  it  is  unnecessary  to  follow  our  author  in 
his  refutation  of  the  arguments  brought  to  sustain 
his  propositions.  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  after 
tracking  out  all  his  sophistical  windings  in  the 
labyrinth  of  Roman  authorities,  he  proceeds  :— ^ 

"  Tell  me  then,  sir,  who  is  the  wicked  man  and 
libertine,  he   who   opposes  the  doctrines  of  the 


APPENDIX.  121 

apostles,  the  opinions  of  the  holy  fathers,  and 
the  practices  of  the  church,  or  he  who  sustains 
them,  and  insists  upon  their  restoration  ?  Who 
has  most  zeal  for  religion  and  charity  for  his 
brethren,  he  that  desires  to  see  the  ministers  of 
religion  irreprehensible  and  free  from  a  law  which 
occasions  immorality  among  them,  brings  them 
into  discredit  and  disesteem,  and  finally  conducts 
them  to  perdition  ;  or  he  who  is  stupidly  satisfied 
with  the  formality  of  celibacy,  insensible  to  the 
disgrace  of  his  brethren,  to  the  scandal  heaped 
upon  religion,  to  the  uselessness  of  her  ministers, 
and  who,  overflowing  with  fanatical  zeal,  vocifer- 
ates to  this  eflect  1 — 

'  Our  priests  were  ordained  with  the  conditiun  of 
their  remaining  continent ;  whether  they  are  or  not, 
whether  they  can  he  or  not,  no  matter  ;  let  them  suffer, 
let  them  strive  in  vain  with  their  weakness  ;  since 
they  have  been  imprudent  and  deceived  themselves 
respecting  the  possibility  of  fulfilling  their  promise, 
they  must  at  any  rate  die  bachelors,  be  the  conse- 
quences what  they  may  /' 

****** 

"  You  say,  moreover,  that  the  Greek  and  protes- 
tant  clergy  live  in  profound  misery  on  account  of 
being  married.  Here  is  another  perversion  of 
truth.  When  an  effect  may  be  traced  to  several 
causes,  it  is  necessary  to  discover  the  one  which 
is  real.  But  it  ought  to  be  known  that  the  Greek 
protestant  clergy  are  not  poorer  than  the  Roman, 
whom  we  have  often  seen  begging.  We  can  even 
affirm  that  we  know  some  (among  the  latter)  who 
might  live  in  a  very  respectable  style  if  they  had 
lawful  wives  to  keep  them  from  the  prodigalities 
11 


122  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

into  which  weakness  and  passion  plunge  them. 
What  you  ought  to  confess,  even  to  our  shame,  is 
the  morality  of  the  protestant  clergy.  In  fact, 
since  they  offer  us  the  interesting  example  of  so 
many  moral  virtues,  when  destitute  of  the  grace 
of  Christ,  being  out  of  the  true  church,  and,  per- 
haps, merely  because  matrimony  is  open  to  them, 
what  prodigies  of  holiness  ought  we  not  to  present 
if  we  had  equal  liberty  and  were  assisted  by  the 
grace  of  God  !" 

"  Forgetful  that  your  book  constitutes  a  perfect 
lihel,  and  that  by  the  expressions  with  which  you 
have  so  charitably  honored  your  brethren  you 
have  declared  yourself  hostile  to  religion  itself, 
since  that  commands  you  to  love  even  your  ene- 
mies, and  not  call  them  debauchees^  epicures,  wolves 
of  Satan,  waymarks  to  hell,  atheists,  <fcc.,  &c.  ; 
strange  to  tell,  you  all  at  once  become  inflamed 
with  charity  for  a  poor  weak  cardinal,  whose 
name  I  concealed  for  decency's  sake.  In  order 
to  defend  him,  you  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce 
me  a  calumniator.  Why  ?  Merely  because  I  did 
not  give  my  authority  for  the  fact.  Well,  then,  to 
satisfy  your  curiosity,  I  will  give  you  the  names 
of  four  authors  for  your  consultation — Hovedin, 
Huntingdon,  Paris,  Wertin. 

"  If  you  are  afraid  to  read  these,  and  continue 
obstinately  to  affirm  that  such  conduct  is  impossi- 
ble or  impracticable  to  so  high  a  character,  you 
may  choose  as  his  substitute  either  one  among 
six  or  seven  of  their  holinesses  who  have  proved 
by  their  public  example  the  necessity  of  abolish- 
ing the  law  requiring  celibacy  in  the  clergy.  If 
you  do  not  know  the  names  of  these  popes  I  Avill 


APPENDIX.  123 

tell  you  what  they  are,  and  refer  to  authors  that 
you  may  without  scruple  consult." 

"  Must  my  report,  then,  like  Pandora's  box,  be 
pent  up  for  the  sake  of  the  country  ?  No,  sir;  my 
exposition  of  this  subject  was  designed  to  enlighten 
the  public  mind,  and  to  promote  the  solid  virtues  of 
community  by  means  of  a  measure  which  the 
peoj)le  themselves  desire,  in  view  of  the  scandals 
to  which  they  are  witness  ;  at  the  same  time  it 
was  designed  to  confound  the  ignorance  and  fanat- 
icism of  those  who  meddle  with  subjects  which 
they  confessedly  do  not  understand.  Your  book 
is  the  torch  of  discord,  which  has  no  other  object 
than  that  of  creating  fanaticism,  and  disseminating 
in  society  the  spirit  of  persecution.  But  you  are 
deceived  ;  the  world  is  already  tired  of  seeing 
human  blood  spilled  for  the  sake  of  enslaving 
consciences. 

"  You  may  rage,  become  furious,  and  despair, 
but  you  will  die  confounded,  and  never  see  the 
fires  of  the  holy  office  kindled,  nor  the  thunders 
of  the  Vatican  fulminated  against  one  who  respects 
the  primacy  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  doctrines  and 
morality  of  the  Catholic  religion.  But  I  have 
said  enough.  The  intelligent  will  form  a  correct 
judgment  of  the  merits  of  the  question,  and  the 
unlearned  but  sincere  people  will  discover,  from 
the  insults  and  calumnies  of  your  book,  who  it  is 
that  is  like  to  bring  down  the  maledictions  of 
heaven  upon  Brazil.  Whether  it  is  myself,  by 
endeavoring  to  lessen  crime,  to  restore  to  humanity 
its  rights,  and  to  the  clergy  the  esteem  and  consid- 
eration which  they  ought  to  possess  ;  or  whether 
it  is  you,  notwithstanding  your  boasted  zeal  for  re- 


124  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

ligion,  by  cursing  your  neighbor,  tolerating  con- 
cubinage, and  resting  satisfied  with  the  hypocrisy 
of  some,  the  imposture  of  others,  and  the  scandal 
of  many !" 

The  above  extracts  exhibit  something  of  the 
character  as  well  as  the  logic  of  our  author's 
principal  opponent.  It  will  not  be  irrelevant  to 
add  that  this  same  priest,  Luiz  Gonsalves  dos  San- 
tos, has  perhaps  equally  distinguished  himself  in 
several  recent  publications  against  protestantism, 
aimed  especially  at  the  protestant  missionaries 
resident  at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  The  principal  work 
was  dedicated  to  Fabrini,  the  pope's  amljassador, 
of  whom  mention  is  made  in  Note  A.  It  presents 
nearly  200  pages  octavo,  principally  occupied  in 
attempting  to  refute  the  well-known  tract,  "  The 
Protestant  Religion  No  Novelty,'^  consisting  barely 
of  4  pages,  12mo.  ! 


NOTE  E,  p.  109. 

"  It  would  be  wrong  to  doubt  that  the  General  Assembly 
of  Brazil  will  not  hesitate  in  the  discharge  of  an  important 
duty,"  &c. 

Notwithstanding  the  convincing  arguments  of 
our  author,  and  his  sanguine  anticipations  that  the 
General  Assembly  would  give  heed  to  them,  yet 
he  was  doomed  to  experience  disappointment  in 
the  defeat  of  his  measure.  His  subsequent  elec- 
tion to  the  highest  office  within  the  gift  of  the 
nation,  proves  that  it  could  have  been  through  no 
want  or  loss  of  personal  influence. 

It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  assign  reasons 
why  this  was  the    result  of  so   bold    and  high- 


APPENDIX.  125 

handed  an  attempt  at  reform,  especially  when  we 
reflect  what  an  alarm  would  be  excited  by  it, 
throughout  the  entire  dominions  of  the  pope,  and 
what  numberless  influences  the  See  of  Rome 
could  bring  to  bear  upon  a  Catholic  nation,  just 
emerging  into  civil  liberty,  and  still  embarrassed 
with  pending  war. 

Clerical  celibacy,  with  its  wretched  consequen- 
ces, as  portrayed  in  this  work,  is  still  retained  in 
Brazil,  and  it  is  not  known  that  another  attempt  to 
abolish  it  will  soon,  if  ever  be  made.  Those  who 
have  exerted  themselves  unsuccessfully  in  behalf 
of  reform  seem  to  have  become  disheartened.  The 
ex-regent  himself  is  believed  to  experience  this 
sentiment  to  no  small  degree.  He  once  remarked 
to  the  writer,  respecting  his  brethren  of  the  priest- 
hood, that  "  they  neither  wish  to  introduce  improve- 
ments themselves,  nor  will  they  suffer  others  to  do 
so." 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader  to 
have  an  authentic  statement  of  the  especial  reason 
why  the  Roman  church  so  pertinaciously  adheres 
to  the  policy  of  requiring  a  formal  celibacy  in  her 
clergy,  in  defiance  of  the  claims  of  justice,  hu* 
manity,  and  religion. 

The  following  is  translated  from  a  standard 
theological  work,  entitled,  "  Compendium  of  Mor- 
al Theology,  for  the  use  of  the  Seminary  of 
Oli?ida,  by  the  Padre  Manoel  do  Monte  Rode- 
rigues  d'  Araujo,  Professor  of  Moral  Theology  in 
said  Institution."  2  vols.  Pernambuco,  1837.  It 
is  a  scholium  upon  ^1172,  sec  VI.,  on  Orders: 
"  The  marriage  of  priests  would  be  accompanied 
with  very  serious  hazard  of  the  peace  and  secU' 
11* 


126  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

rity  of  families.  A  Catholic  priest  would  have 
many  means  of  seducing,  if  he  could  hope  to  ar- 
rive at  the  end  of  seduction  through  a  lawful  mar- 
riage. Under  the  pretext  of  directing  the  con- 
science, he  might  corrupt  and  gain  the  heart,  turn- 
ing to  his  private  advantage  the  influence  which 
his  ministry  gives  him  solely  for  the  benefit  of  re- 
ligion. Were  we  to  abolish  the  celibacy  of  priests, 
as  a  necessary  consequence  sacramental  con- 
fession would  be  abolished  also.  This  was  the 
result  in  the  reformed  church,  and  for  this  object 
the  same  measure  was  proposed  in  France,  about 
the  time  of  the  revolution."  V.  Gregoire  Histoire 
du  Mariage  des  Pretres.  Chap.  8. 

It  is  idle  to  argue  this  question.  I  will  only 
remark  what  is  well  known  in  Brazil,  viz.,  that 
this  class  of  men,  although  prohibited  lawful 
marriage,  have  so  "  many  means  of  seduction," 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  more  respectable 
families  peremptorily  guard  their  daughters  from 
any  approach  to  the  confessional. 

The  following  paragraph  from  the  text  of  the 
same  standard  luork,  is  subjoined  as  a  specimen 
of  the  facts  on  the  ground  of  which  clerical  celib- 
acy is  advocated  : — 

"  4th  Objection. — The  example  of  the  reformed 
(protestant)  clergy,  who  are  married.  Ans. — 
This  is  a  miserable  objection,  and  those  who  make 
it  must  either  do  so  through  ignorance  or  bad 
faith.  1st.  Ignorantly,  because  there  intervenes  an 
immense  distance  between  the  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood  and  the  protestant  ministry.  The 
protestants  have  no  sacrifice,  no  altar,  and  no 
priesthood,  except  that  which  is  lay,  ignoble,  and 


APPENDIX,  127 

merely  external,  and  consequently  no  reasons  for 
continence,  not  even  those  which  prevailed  with 
the  Levites  at  the  time  of  their  ministrations. 
Not  so  with  Catholics,  who  offer  and  partake  of 
the  Immaculate  Lamb,  who  have  part  in  mysteries 
that  would  be  tremendous  even  to  angels. 

"  Protestant  pastors  have  their  functions  limited 
to  preaching,  presiding  at  public  worship  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  celebrating  the  Supper  a  few  times 
per  year,  nothing  more  ;  while  Roman  Catholic 
pastors,  beside  preaching  and  presiding  at  public 
prayers  longer  and  more  frequently,  have  to  go 
through  with  mass,  and  the  service  of  the  breviary, 
every  day  ;  to  attend  on  confessions,  to  administer 
the  sacraments,  and  perform  other  functions 
enumerated  in  ^1157.  How,  then,  can  they  dis- 
charge, in  addition  to  all  these  duties,  those  of  a 
family  ?  2d.  Insincerely  ;  because  it  is  known 
that  the  people  have  little  or  no  respect  for  the 
reformed  clergy  ;  their  misery  is  frightful.  Their 
daughters  are  those  who  populate  places  of  pros- 
titution, and  they  themselves  are  not  exempt  from 
ttie  license  of  theatrical  performances,  and  when 
one  of  them  is  introduced  upon  the  stage  it  is  to 
personate  the  fool  or  the  drunkard  !" 

A  part  of  the  above  falsehoods  are  repeated  in  a 
pamphlet  written  by  the  Archbishop  of  Bahia,  in 
an  impotent  effort  to  refute  the  arguments  of 
Feijo. 

I  intended  to  comment  upon  that  production  of 
the  Primate  of  Brazil,  against  our  author  ;  but  hav- 
ing perused  and  reperused  it,  I  find  that  the  para- 
graph containing  the  miserable  slanders  just  de- 
tailed, in  order  that  they  might  refute  themselves, 


128  CLERICAL    CELIBACY. 

is  the  only  one  marked  as  worthy  of  especial 
notice. 

It  is  needless  to  multiply  remarks  upon  a  work 
having  such  a  perfect  unity  of  design,  and  so  much 
point  in  its  language,  as  that  which  I  have  now 
translated.  I  will  therefore  take  leave  of  the 
reader  by  expressing  to  him  the  opinion,  that  what- 
ever effect  the  perusal  of  this  book  may  have 
upon  the  minds  of  protestants,  it  is  capable  of  ex- 
erting a  powerful  influence  upon  any  Roman  Cath- 
olic community  in  which  it  may  be  read. 

I  therefore  look  forward  with  interest  to  the  day 
when  it  shall  be  freely  circulated  in  several  impor- 
t£int  countries  of  Europe. 


THE    END. 


SORIN&BALLi 

JVo.  311   JflJlRKET  STREET, 

Would  invite  the  attention  of  the  Ministry  and 

all  Biblical  Students  to  their  following 

list  of 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS  AND   NEW  EDITIONS: 


SERMONS  PREACHED  UPON  SEVERAL 
OCCASIONS, 

BY  ROBERT  SOUTH,  B.D., 

Prebendary  of  Westminster,  and  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
4  vols.  8vo. 

This  is  the  only  complete  edition  of  Dr.  South;  it 
includes  the  Posthumous  Discourses;  also  an 
Analysis  of  each  Sermon,  and  a  copious  Index  of 
the  entire  work. 

Opinions  of  eminent  Divines  respecting  the  Sermons 
of  Dr.  South, 

*'  Let  those  that  please,  be  enraptured  at  the  pretty, 
elegant  sentences  of  Massillon  or  Bourdaloue;  but  give 
me  the  plain,  nervous  style  of  Dr.  South. 

"John  Wesley." 
"No  English  divine  has  united  the  charms  of  intel- 
lect  and   finished   style    to   sound  theology   more  re- 
markably than  Dr,  South. 

"Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.  D.," 
Rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Epiphany,  Philad. 
"His  Sermons  form  an  'Oxford  canon,'  the  sound  of 
which  I  would  exult  to  hear  thundering  from  every  Pro- 
testant bulwark.    I  know  of  no  set  of  Sermons  with 


which  the  public  is  now  unfurnished,  that  I  should  so 
much  rejoice  in  seeing  widely  circulated. 

"John  Kennaday," 
Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  Wilmington, 
"In  originality  of  thought  and  illustration,  in  evan- 
gelical views,  and  fervour  of  piety,  he  is  superior  to 
either  Barrow  or  Sherlock ;  and  for  strength  and  felicity 
of  diction  he  has  hardly  any  equal.  Even  the  occasional 
quaintness  of  expression  adds  to  the  interest  of  the 
reader  in  the  subject,  and  impresses  more  deeply  the 
truths  which  are  so  earnestly  and  solemnly  inculcated 
and  illustrated  in  these  Sermons;  which  might  be  fitly 
entitled,  k.  demonstration  of  the  spiritual  anatomy  and 
physiology  of  the  human  heart,  in  its  natural  state,  and 
as  renewed  by  Divine  Grace." — Christian  Advocate 
and  Journal. 

"  He  belongs  to  the  number  of  '  old  men  eloquent' 
who  have  given  their  names  to  immortality,  whose  works 
*  the  noble  ships  of  time' — as  Bacon  calls  them,  pass 
along  age  after  age,  richly  freighted  with  stores  of 
thought  for  successive  generations,  and  all  climes  of  the 
earth.  You  cannot  read  a  page  without  being  struck 
with  some  brilliant  antithesis,  some  piercing  sarcasm  or 
pregnant  comparison.  Masculine  in  his  vigour  of  intel- 
lect, grand  in  his  range  of  conception,  severely  simple  in 
his  style,  and  thoroughly  Saxon  in  his  language,  he  is  a 
noble  model  for  the  Christian  orator." — Southern  Chris- 
tian Advocate. 

"  There  is  scarcely  a  religious  author  in  our  language 
who  combines  more  excellencies  than  South.  Wesley 
commends  his  style  as  a  model.  Those  who  have  read 
the  late  article  in  our  Review  on  Pulpit  Eloquence,  will 
recollect  the  estimate  and  example  of  his  genius  there 
given.  His  sentiments  are  ardently  evangelical;  his 
style  is  characterized    by  remarkable  directness   and 


energy,  by  striking  imagery,  and  frequently  by  appro- 
priate and  pungent  satire." — Zion^s  Herald  and  Wes- 
leyan  Journal. 

"  His  sentences  are  sometimes  texts,  his  paragraphs 
themes,  his  discourses,  commentaries.  His  pages  are 
rich  with  precious  ore  from  the  mine  of  truth,  and  spark- 
ling with  brilliants  from  a  well-stored  and  sanctified 
mind." — Richmond  Christian  Advocate. 

"An  eminent  writer  in  the  Tatler  says,  'One  does 
not  know  which  to  admire  most  in  h*is  writings,  the 
strength  of  reason,  force  of  style,  or  brightness  of  imagi- 
nation. In  short,  the  best  way  to  praise  him  is  to  quote 
him.  In  all  his  writings  will  be  found  the  divine,  the 
orator,  the  casuist,  and  the  Christian." — New  England 
Puritan. 

"  The  library  of  a  clergyman  cannot  be  complete 
without  them,  and  now  by  the  enterprise  of  the  pub- 
lishers, they  may  supply  themselves  with  an  elegant  edi- 
tion of  a  work  which  has  hitherto  been  scarce  in  this 
country.  At  an  early  period  of  our  ministry,  we  sup- 
plied ourselves  with  an  English  copy,  at  a  high  price, 
which  is  not  comparable  with  this.  The  present  edi- 
tion is  increased  in  value  by  a  copious  Index." — The 
Presbyterian. 

"  No  productions  are  more  suitable  than  those  to  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Christ's  ministers,  young  or  old, 
who  would  learn  to  add  force  and  effect  to  their  pulpit 
addresses." — Ladies^  Repository. 

"  His  Sermons  are  distinguished  for  originality  of 
conception,  for  the  boldness  with  which  sin  is  rebuked 
and  exposed,  and  for  the  strain  of  rich  and  glowing  elo- 
quence in  which  the  earnest  desire  of  the  preacher  gives 
utterance  to  its  longings  for  the  salvation  of  men." — 
Protestant  Banner. 


BURKITT'S  NOTES  ON  THE  NEW  TES- 
TAMENT;  second  American  edition:  2  vols. 
8vo.  Beautifully  printed  on  fine  paper,  and 
well  bound. 

"For  practical  utility,  it  has  no  superior.  Other  ex- 
positions and  commentaries  have  their  several  excel- 
lencies, but  we  know  of  no  one  containing  more  sound 
sense  and  piety  than  Burkitt." — Banner  of  the  Cross. 

"  We  rejoice*  to  see  our  old  favourite  in  a  dress  and 
size  that  will  render  it  available  to  our  junior  co-labour- 
ers, and  that  will  place  it  in  the  families  of  our  members 
generally." — Pittsburgh  Christian  Advocate. 

"  We  have  always  found  Burkilt  a  very  useful  com- 
mentator for  practical  reading.  His  illustrations  of  the 
text  are  usually  brief,  not  critical,  pervaded  by  a  savour 
of  piety,  and  suggestive  of  analyses  which  will  prove 
useful  to  general  readers  and  lo  ministers  particularly." — 
The  Presbyterian. 

*'Few  commentaries  are  better  companions  for  the 
closet  or  fireside." — Zion's  Herald  and  Wesleyan  Jour- 
nal. 

"Every  minister,  Calvinistic  or  Arminian,  should, 
without  fail,  deposit  it  in  his  library.  In  rich  invention, 
striking  thought  and  forcible  expression,  who  can  excel 
Burkitt." — Ladies'*  Repository,  Cin. 

"  Burkitt's  Notes  were  deservedly  held  in  very  high 
esteem  by  Mr.  Wesley.  As  a  plain,  practical  and  forci- 
ble exposition  of  the  New  Testament,  the  work  is, 
perhaps,  as  good  a  companion  in  Scripture  reading  as  a 
disciple  of  Christ  can  desire,  either  for  family  or  closet 
reference.     As  such  I  cheerfully  recommend  it. 

"J.  Kennaday." 

"  It  simply  gives  a  minute  and  practical  exposition  of 


the  Word  of  God;  and  while  the  simple  can  comprehend 
from  its  use  the  words  of  eternal  truth  in  their  beauty,  it 
is  at  the  same  lime  calculated  to  make  the  wise  wiser." 
— Christian  Repository. 

"Those  who  look  for  edification  in  piety  may  be  sa- 
tisfied in  Burkitt.  We  may  suggest  to  young  preach- 
ers, that  they  will  often  find  in  these  notes  excellent 
hints  for  the  construction  of  a  Sermon." — Christian 
•Advocate  and  Journal. 

"  The  text  is  given  in  a  goodly-sized  type  and  the 
notes  follow  each  subject — sometimes  a  single  note  in 
smaller  but  plain  type.  These  notes,  like  most  other 
notes,  exceed  greatly  in  amount  the  solid  bullion  upon 
which  they  are  issued;  and  like  other  notes  will  be  dif- 
ferently estimated  by  persons  who  put  an  equal  value  on 
that  which  constitutes  their  bases." — U.  S.  Gazette. 


BRITISH  SKETCHES,  or  SKETCHES  OF  400 
SERMONS,  Preached  in  various  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  on  the  European  Conti- 
nent. Furnished  by  their  respective  authors.  4 
vols.  ISino. 

"  Great  diversity  of  opinion  prevails  among  divines  as 
to  the  utility  of  Sketches  of  Sermons  as  aids  to  prepara- 
tion for  the  pulpit.  But  we  are  free  to  say,  without 
pretending  to  settle  the  controversy,  that  this  is  the  best 
work  of  the  kind  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The 
distribution  of  the  subject  is  generally'' judicious,  and 
never  too  much  attenuated.  The  suggestions  under  the 
difl^erent  heads  of  the  discourse  are  always  leading  ones, 
which  the  preacher  is  left  to  carry  out  and  improve  in 
his  own  way;  and  the  subjects  are  chosen  with  a  direct 
view  to  their  importance  in  the  great  work  of  saving 


souls,  rather  than  to  gratify  a  polemical  or  speculative 
propensity.  We  may  add,  that  the  work  may  be  found 
very  edifying  to  other  readers  besides  preachers.  Many 
have  not  time  to  read  a  long  discourse  through  at  a  sin- 
gle sitting,  who  would  find  it  very  useful  to  improve  a 
few  spare  moments  in  perusing  one  of  these  compressed 
and  evangelical  Sermons." 

Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 
"The   Sermons   are   sometimes   argumentatiAe,   but 
more   generally  practical.     Their  suggestive   character 
will  render  them  acceptable  to  young  preachers  and  their 
general  excellence  will  commend  them  to  all." 

Christian  Re/lector. 


THOLUCK'S  EXPOSITION  OF  ST.  PAUL'S 
EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS,  with  Extracts 
from  the  Exegetical  works  of  the  Fathers  and 
Reformers.  Translated  from  the  original  by  the 
Rev.  Robert  Menzies:  1  vol.  8vo. 

"Of  the  kind,  it  is  the  best  Commentary  that  we 
know. " — Christian  Instructor, 

"  Confessedly  the  ablest  exposition  of  the  Scriptures 
in  any  language." — Evangelical  Magazine. 

"  It  is  an  invaluable  work  of  a  very  remarkable  man, 
and  should  be  read  and  studied  by  all  Biblical  students. 
"Rev.  J.  P.  DuRBiN,  D.  D." 

"Its  genuine  piety,  and  the  sterling  erudition  dis- 
played in  the  exegesis,  must  commend  it  to  all  friends 
of  sacred  literature." — Protestant  Banner. 

"The  work  is  a  real  accession  to  theological  litera- 
ture in  our  language.  We  cordially  recommend  to  all 
well  read  divines  to  give  Tholuck  on  the  Romans  a  tho- 
rough reading.^' — Western  Christian  Advocate. 


"  It  cannot  fail  to  render  most  essential  service  to  the 
theologian  and  critical  reader  of  the  Scripture." — North 
American. 

"  This  work  opens  to  the  Biblical  student  rich  mines 
of  thought,  and  will  certainly  find  a  place  in  the  libraries 
of  all." — Southern  Chr.  Advocate. 

"The  work  is  richly  entitled  to  a  kind  reception 
among  ministers  and  Biblical  studentsof  every  church  in 
the  country." — Christian  Observer. 

IRENICUM,  OR  PACIFICATOR;  being  a  Reconciler 
as  to  Church  Differences,  by  Bishop  Stillingfleet. 
8vo. 

SMITH'S  LECTURES  ON  THE  NATURE  AND 
END  OF  THE  SACRED  OFFICE.  12mo.  This 
work  is  highly  recommended  both  by  the  clergy  and 
press. 

OLD  CHRISTIANITY  AGAINST  PAPAL  NO- 
VELTIES, by  Gideon  Ouseley.     1  vol.  12mo. 

MEMOIR  OF  REV.  WM.  DAWSON,  by  James 
Everett.     1  vol.  12mo. 

DOMESTIC  CIRCLE,  by  Rev.  M.  Sorin.  1  vol. 
12mo. 

RHODA,  or  THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  CHARITY. 

CHRISTIAN  TREASURE  OPENED. 

AUNT  xMARY'S  VISIT:  Illustrated;  a  new  Sunday 
School  book. 

HERVEY'S  MEDITATIONS:  Illustrated. 

HEMANS'S  POEMS:  Illustrated  with  Steel  Plate  en- 
gravings. 

S,  8^  B.  would  also  invite  attention  to  their  general 
as  sortment  of  Theological  works. 


